‘Then the Bill Came’: Year 4 of KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month Is a Wrap
In 2021, more than 880 of you submitted ideas for KHN-NPR’s Bill of the Month investigative series, trusting us with two of the most personal topics in life: your health and your money. We are deeply grateful. Our trove of bills and stories — building steadily to nearly 5,000 since February 2018 — tells us […]
Laws Shield Hospitals From Families Who Believe Loved Ones Contracted Covid as Patients
After Amanda Wilson lost her son, Braden, 15, to covid-19 in early 2021, she tried to honor his memory. She put up a lending library box in his name. She plans to give the money she saved for his college education to other teens who love the arts and technology. But in one area, she […]
An Anesthesiology Practice’s Busy Day in Court Collecting on Surprise Bills
Owen Loney’s surprise bill resulted from an emergency appendectomy in 2019 at a Richmond, Virginia, hospital. Insurance covered most of the cost of the hospital stay, he said. He didn’t pay much attention to a bill he received from Commonwealth Anesthesia Associates and expected his insurance to cover it. A few months ago, he got […]
Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
ERLANGER, Ky. — The sleek corporate offices of one of Amazon’s air freight contractors looms over Villaspring of Erlanger, a stately nursing home perched on a hillside in this Cincinnati suburb. Amazon Prime Air cargo planes departing from a recently opened Amazon Air Hub roar overhead. Its Prime semi-trucks speed along the highway, rumbling the […]
Deep Roots Help This Chicago Pharmacist Avoid Creating Another Drugstore Desert
CHICAGO — Del-Kar Pharmacy in the North Lawndale neighborhood has had a front-row seat to history. Martin Luther King Jr. bought his daily newspaper there when he lived in Chicago in the late 1960s. The Black Panthers’ local headquarters was a block away, and the pharmacy shared a building with the Conservative Vice Lords, a […]
Watch: One City’s Effort to Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
About 72% of Americans have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. During much of the vaccine rollout, Hispanic and Black Americans have been less likely than white Americans to get vaccinated. The gap between white and Hispanic Americans has largely closed, but the vaccination rate for the Black community still lags significantly […]
As Patients Fell Ill With Covid Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short
One by one, the nurses taking care of actress Judi Evans at Riverside Community Hospital kept calling out sick. Patients were coughing as staffers wheeled the maskless soap opera star around the California hospital while treating her for injuries from a horseback fall in May 2020, Evans said. She remembered they took her to a […]
New Parents Slapped With Surprise Bills for Treating Newborns
After Christine Malik gave birth to her first daughter three years ago, a clinician affiliated with a company called Pediatrix entered the hospital room and fitted the infant with sensors and wires for a hearing test. The child failed the screening required by law for all newborns, the tester said, requiring a follow-up exam. “We […]
‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Rapid-Test Edition: Who’s Making a Buck?
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. Rapid, at-home covid-19 tests are close to essential if you want to see friends and family this holiday season, and do your best to stay safe. But they’re freaking expensive and can be hard to find. What the heck […]
As Pandemic Wears Down Hospital Staff, One Town Offers Groceries to Say Thanks
PARK CITY, Utah — This mountain community — which comes alive during the winter ski season and annual Sundance Film Festival — is home to the Park City Hospital, which has 460 employees. As in countless hospitals across the country, the demands of covid-19 at times overwhelmed the facility and dramatically changed the way caregivers […]