Community With High Medical Debt Questions Its Hospitals鈥 Charity Spending
Pueblo, Colorado, residents have higher-than-average medical debt, while the city鈥檚 two tax-exempt hospitals provide relatively low levels of charity care.
Medicare
241 - 260 of 1,575 Results
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Journalists Sum Up the Costs to Patients of New Weight Loss Drugs and Hospital Mergers
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
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Seeking Medicare Coverage for Weight Loss Drugs, Pharma Giant Courts Black Influencers
Novo Nordisk, the dominant company in the multibillion-dollar market for weight loss drugs, focuses on Black lawmakers and opinion leaders to spread the message that obesity is a chronic disease that needs treatment.
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Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized by Medicare?
Each year, Medicare punishes hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and high rates of infections and patient injuries. Check out which hospitals have been penalized.
By Jordan Rau -
The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer鈥檚 Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers
The annual cost of lecanemab treatment quadruples if the expense of brain scans to monitor for bleeds and other associated care is factored in. The full financial toll likely puts it beyond reach for low-income seniors at risk of Alzheimer鈥檚, experts say.
By Arthur Allen -
His Anesthesia Provider Billed Medicare Late. He Got Sent to Collections for the $3,000 Tab.
Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But after the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner, it billed the patient instead.
Another Try for Mental Health 鈥楶arity鈥
Episode 307President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 C茅line Gounder about her podcast 鈥淓pidemic.鈥 The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.
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New Weight Loss Drugs Carry High Price Tags and Lots of Questions for Seniors
Although nearly 40% of Americans 60 and older are obese, Medicare doesn鈥檛 cover weight loss medications. Meanwhile, studies haven鈥檛 thoroughly examined new drugs鈥 impact on older adults.
The Long Road to Reining In Short-Term Plans聽
Episode 305President Biden made good on a campaign promise this week with a proposal that would limit short-term health insurance plans that boast low premiums but also few benefits. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to outlaw affirmative action programs could set back efforts to diversify the nation鈥檚 medical workforce. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 Bram Sable-Smith, who reported the latest 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 about how a hospital couldn鈥檛 track down a patient, but a debt collector could.
Slow Your Disenroll
Episode 302More than a million Americans have lost Medicaid coverage since pandemic protections ended. The Biden administration is asking states to slow disenrollment, but that does not mean states must listen. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court decision gives Medicaid beneficiaries the right to sue over their care, and a new deal preserves coverage of preventive services nationwide as a Texas court case continues. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner interviews Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, a new unit of JPMorgan Chase, about employers鈥 role in insurance coverage.
Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
Episode 301The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government鈥檚 borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program鈥檚 new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.
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The Debt Ceiling Deal Takes a Bite Out of Health Programs. It Could Have Been Much Worse.
A bipartisan deal to raise the government鈥檚 borrowing limit dashed Republican hopes for new Medicaid work requirements and other health spending cuts. Democrats secured the compromise by making relatively modest concessions, including ordering the return of unspent covid funds and limiting other health spending.
By Julie Rovner When an Anti-Vaccine Activist Runs for President
Episode 299Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 official entry into the presidential race poses a thorny challenge for journalists: how to cover a candidate who鈥檚 opposed to vaccines without amplifying misinformation. And South Carolina becomes the latest state in the South to ban abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani about her project to track the billions of dollars coming from opioid makers to settle lawsuits.
The Abortion Pill Goes Back to Court
Episode 298A three-judge appeals court panel heard testimony this week about revoking the FDA鈥檚 22-year-old approval of a key pill used in medication abortion and miscarriage management. The judges all have track records of siding with abortion foes. Meanwhile, as the standoff over raising the federal debt ceiling continues in Washington, a major sticking point is whether to impose work requirements on recipients of Medicaid coverage. Victoria Knight of Axios, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
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A Covid Test Medicare Scam May Be a Trial Run for Further Fraud
Before the covid-19 public health emergency ended, Medicare advocates around the country noticed a rise in complaints from beneficiaries who received at-home covid tests they never requested. Bad actors may have used seniors鈥 Medicare information to improperly bill the federal government 鈥 and could do it again, say federal investigators.
By Susan Jaffe Health Programs Are at Risk as Debt Ceiling Cave-In Looms
Episode 296A warning from the Treasury Department that the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as June 1 has galvanized lawmakers to intervene. But there is still no obvious way to reconcile Republican demands to slash federal spending with President Joe Biden鈥檚 demand to raise the debt ceiling and save the spending fight for a later date. Meanwhile, efforts to pass abortion bans in conservative states are starting to stall as some Republicans rebel against the most severe bans. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Dancing Under the Debt Ceiling
Episode 295House Republicans passed their plan to raise the nation鈥檚 debt ceiling, along with major cuts to health (and other domestic) programs. Unlikely to become law, it calls for new work requirements for adults on Medicaid. Meanwhile, state efforts targeting trans people bear a striking resemblance to the fight against abortion rights. Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Renuka Rayasam, who reported the latest 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a specialist鈥檚 demand to be paid as much as $15,000 before treating a woman鈥檚 serious pregnancy complication.
The 鈥楿nwinding’ of Medicaid
Episode 292As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result. Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program鈥檚 underlying financial weaknesses. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.
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Congressman Seeks to Plug 鈥楽hocking Loophole鈥 Exposed by KHN Investigation
A federal lawmaker has introduced a House bill that would close one of a laundry list of oversight gaps revealed in a recent KHN investigation of the system regulators use to ban fraudsters from billing government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
The Policy, and Politics, of Medicare Advantage
Episode 290Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, is embroiled in a growing controversy over whether insurers are being overpaid and what it would mean to reduce those payments. Meanwhile, even as maternal mortality in the U.S. continues to rise, providers of care to pregnant women say they鈥檙e leaving states with abortion bans that prevent them from treating pregnancy complications. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN鈥檚 chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.