Bill of the Month
Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, examines and decodes your perplexing medical bills.
Investigations
Priced Out
Americaās health insurance crisis
Deadly Denials
Prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities.
261 - 280 of 419 Results
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āInjections, Injections, Injectionsā: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of Californiaās largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
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Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws to Target Health Care Fraud
Investigators allege a Texas company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes accepted bribes in violation of 1960s-era racketeering law.
By Fred Schulte -
Watch: ER Charged $1,012 for Almost No Care
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal weighs in on the January installment of KHN-NPR's Bill of the Month, in which a family gets burned over a visit to the emergency room.
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The Doctor Didnāt Show Up, but the Hospital ER Still Charged $1,012
A St. Louis-area toddler burned his hand on the stove, and his mom took him to the ER on the advice of her pediatrician. He wasnāt seen by a doctor, and the dressing on the wound wasnāt changed. The bill was more than a thousand dollars.
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Watch and Listen: Examining the Risks of Covidās Spread Within Hospitals
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks about the risks of covidās spread in hospitals on the ā1Aā radio program and on the Newsy TV network.
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āThen the Bill Cameā: Year 4 of KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month Is a Wrap
Our crowdsourced investigation of the high, confusing and arbitrary medical bills generated by our health system is set to begin its fifth year in 2022.
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Laws Shield Hospitals From Families Who Believe Loved Ones Contracted Covid as Patients
Families who believe their loved ones contracted covid-19 while hospitalized are finding they have little recourse following a wave of liability shield legislation pushed by business interests.
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett -
As Patients Fell Ill With Covid Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short
A KHN investigation finds that hospitals with high rates of covid patients who didnāt have the diagnosis when they were admitted have rarely been held accountable due to multiple gaps in government oversight.
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett -
NICU Bill Installment Plan: Thatāll Be $45,843 a Month for 12 Months, Please
After baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and spent more than 50 days in the neonatal ICU, his parents received a bill of more than $550,000 ā despite having insurance. The Florida hospital had a not-so-helpful suggestion: monthly payments of more than $45,000 for a year.
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Crash Course: Injured Patients Who Sign āLetters of Protectionā May Face Huge Medical Bills and Risks
The letters function as liens that āprotectā spine surgery clinics while patients could be left with inflated medical bills and unexpected health risks.
By Fred Schulte -
The ER Charged Him $6,500 for Six Stitches. No Wonder His Critically Ill Wife Avoided the ER.
With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee coupleās experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly decision the next time they needed help.
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Stranded by the Pandemic, He Had Only Travel Insurance. It Left Him With a $38,000 Bill.
Although itās possible to buy travel insurance that provides some health coverage, the devil is in the fine print. Obama-era laws that prevent refusal of payment for preexisting conditions donāt apply to travel insurance.
By Arthur Allen -
Hormone Blocker Sticker Shock ā Again ā As Patients Lose Cheaper Drug Option
Kids who need a hormone-blocking drug to delay puberty have lost an off-label option. The nearly identical drug the company still sells costs eight times more.
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Patients Went Into the Hospital for Care. After Testing Positive There for Covid, Some Never Came Out.
About 21% of patients diagnosed with covid during a hospital stay died, according to data analyzed for KHN. In-hospital rates of spread varied widely and patients had no way of checking them.
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How Billing Turns a Routine Birth Into a High-Cost Emergency
āObstetrical emergency departmentsā are a new feature in some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask the parents of Baby Gus.
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Pharma Campaign Cash Delivered to Key Lawmakers With Surgical Precision
With an eye to shutting down Medicare drug price negotiations, drug companies and their lobbying groups gave roughly $1.6 million in the first six months of 2021, with Democrats edging closer than they have in a decade to Republicansā total haul.
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A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
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Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic
At least 26 states have passed laws to permanently limit public health powers, a KHN investigation has found, weakening the countryās ability to fight not only the current resurgence of the pandemic but other health crises to come.
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Florida Spine Surgeon and Device Company Owner Charged in Kickback Scheme
Dr. Kingsley R. Chin and SpineFrontier were the subject of a recent KHN āSpinal Tapā investigation.
By Fred Schulte -
Watch: Same Providers, Similar Surgeries, But Different Bills
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the latest Bill of the Month installment, in which a man discovered the hard way that health plans can vary from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.