She Left After Waiting Hours in the Emergency Room. The ER Billed Her Anyway.
Autumn Daniels went to the hospital with a severe migraine. After four hours in the waiting room, she left to try a different facility â but the ER still charged her.
Bill of the Month
This crowdsourced investigation by Ńîšóĺú´ŤĂ˝Ňîl Health News dissects and explains your medical bills every month in order to shed light on U.S. health care prices and to help patients learn how to be more active in managing costs.
-
-
Her Breast MRI Was Approved, But That Didnât Mean Her Insurance Would Pay
Stephanie Halverâs doctor recommended she get a breast MRI, partly because of her familyâs cancer history. Her insurer approved the scan, but unlike mammograms, breast MRIs arenât universally covered as zero-cost preventive care.
-
Uninsured but Undaunted, a Surgical Patient Searched the Globe for a Deal
When surgery became unavoidable, a man with no insurance shopped around for the best price for a hernia repair â and saved thousands by traveling out of state.
By Paula Andalo -
She Struggled To Get a Lifesaving Drug Even After Insurers Vowed To Help
Margaret Hvatum ended up in the hospital after her insurer denied coverage of a medicine she relies on to boost her immune system. Hvatum got entangled in the preapproval process, which the insurance industry has vowed to improve.
Send us your medical bill
Do you have a medical bill that is exorbitant, baffling, infuriating, or all of the above? Send it to us and tell us about your experience.
61-80 of 197 results
-
Surprise-Billing Law Loophole: When âOut of Networkâ Doesnât Quite Mean Out of Network
Billing experts and lawmakers are playing catch-up as providers find ways to get around new surprise-billing laws, leaving patients like Danielle Laskey of Washington state with big bills for emergency care.
By Harris Meyer -
A Baby Spent 36 Days in an In-Network NICU. Why Did the Hospital Next Door Send a Bill?
A baby spent more than a month in a Chicago NICU. A big bill revealed she was treated by out-of-network doctors from the childrenâs hospital next door. Her parents were charged despite a state law protecting patients from such out-of-network billing â and sent to collections when they didnât pay up.
By Harris Meyer -
Watch: Patient Sent to Collections for Surgery She Never Had
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss how difficult a clerical error can be to fix and how patients can respond if it happens to them.
-
KHN-NPRâs âBill of the Monthâ at 5: A Treasury of Solutions for Confounding Medical Bills
Readers and listeners shared more than 1,000 personal stories of medical billing problems with KHN-NPRâs âBill of the Monthâ investigative series this year, helping us illuminate the financial decisions patients are pressed to make in their most vulnerable moments.
-
The Case of the Two Grace Elliotts: A Medical Billing Mystery
A health system charged a woman for a shoulder replacement at a hospital across the country that she had not visited for years. She didnât receive the care, but she did receive the bill â and the medical records of a stranger.
-
Readers and Tweeters Chime In on Disability Rights and Drug Discounts
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
-
KHNâs âWhat the Health?â: Medicaid Machinations
The lame-duck Congress has returned to Washington with a long health care to-do list and only a little time. Meanwhile, some of the states that have not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act are rethinking those decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHNâs Fred Clasen-Kelly, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ feature, about a mysterious mishap during minor surgery.
-
An Unexplained Injury Discovered After Eye Surgery. What Should Happen Next?
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, an expert says. Hereâs how patients can respond.
-
Readers and Tweeters Decry Medical Billing Errors, Price-Gouging, and Barriers to Benefits
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
-
Readers and Tweeters Take Positions on Sleep Apnea Treatment
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
-
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. Itâs sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals â which may pay nearly as little for the drug â charging so much more to administer it?
By Arthur Allen -
A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husbandâs ER Bill
A medical billing specialist investigated her husbandâs ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospitalâs charges â and provides a playbook for other consumers.
-
The Cruelest Bills
Listen: Grieving Families Face the Cruelest Bills
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks with NPR's "Consider This" podcast about her reporting on families confronted with medical bills while grieving the loss of a baby who received expensive hospital care.
-
Watch: Their Baby Died. The Medical Bills Haunted Them.
Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In this KHN video, her father shows the 2-inch stack of medical bills generated by Sterlingâs care.
-
Turned Away From Urgent Care â And Toward a Big ER Bill
Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.
-
Readers and Tweeters Take a Close Look at Eye Care and White Mulberry Leaf
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
-
KHN Impact
$2,700 Ambulance Bill Pulled Back From Collections
After reporting from KHN, NPR, and CBS News, a patientâs $2,700 ambulance bill was pulled back from collections.
-
The Cruelest Bills
Shattered Dreams and Bills in the Millions: Losing a Baby in America
On top of fearing for their childrenâs lives, new parents of very fragile, very sick infants can face exorbitant hospital bills â even if they have insurance. Medical bills donât go away if a child dies.
By Lauren Weber -
KHNâs âWhat the Health?â: Judge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Actâs Preventive Care Benefits
A federal judge in Texas â the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 â has ruled against some of the ACAâs preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHNâs Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ installment.
-
Watch:Â Crashing Into Surprise Ambulance Bills
Three siblings were in the same car wreck, but their ambulance bills were very different.