Health Care Costs

El año pasado, Tennessee gastó $48 millones en un solo medicamento, Humira, unos $62,000 por cada uno de los 775 pacientes cubiertos por el programa de seguro médico para empleados que recibían el tratamiento. Así que cuando nueve imitaciones de Humira, conocidas como biosimilares, salieron al mercado por tan sólo $995 al mes, la oportunidad […]

Meg Bakewell, who has cancer and cancer-related heart disease, sometimes emails her primary care physician, oncologist, and cardiologist asking them for medical advice when she experiences urgent symptoms such as pain or shortness of breath. But she was a little surprised when, for the first time, she got a bill — a $13 copay — […]

When she was around 22 weeks pregnant, the patient found out that the son she was carrying didn’t have kidneys and his lungs wouldn’t develop. If he survived the birth, he would struggle to breathe and die within hours. The patient had a crushing decision to make: continue the pregnancy — which could be a […]

Meg Bakewell, que padece cáncer y una cardiopatía relacionada, a veces envía correos electrónicos a su médico de atención primaria, su oncólogo y su cardiólogo pidiéndoles consejo cuando sufre síntomas graves, como dolor o falta de aliento. Pero se quedó un poco sorprendida cuando, por primera vez, recibió una factura —un copago de $13— por […]

When her 9-year-old daughter was having trouble breathing, Yvette Hammonds took her to a local emergency room. It quickly became clear that girl needed to be transferred to the children’s hospital about 40 minutes away in Atlanta, so her daughter was loaded into an ambulance. Months later, Hammonds received a bill for nearly $1,000: the […]

DENVER. — A Kayce Atencio solía atormentarlo un pensamiento mientras trabajaba en un refugio para personas sin hogar en el centro de Denver. “Podría haber sido yo”, dijo Atencio, de 30 años, quien vive con su hijo y su hija en un pequeño apartamento, no muy lejos del refugio. Casi lo fue. Atencio y sus […]

DENVER — Kayce Atencio used to be haunted by a thought while working at a homeless shelter in downtown Denver. “It could have been me,” said Atencio, 30, who lives in a small apartment with his son and daughter not far from the shelter. It nearly was. Atencio and his children for years slept on […]

For people with cystic fibrosis, like Sabrina Walker, Trikafta has been a life-changer. Before she started taking the drug, she would wind up in the hospital for weeks at a time until antibiotics could eliminate the infections in her lungs. Every day, she would wear a vest that shook her body to loosen the mucus […]

The Biden administration has picked the first 10 high-priced prescription drugs subject to federal price negotiations, taking a swipe at the powerful pharmaceutical industry. It marks a major turning point in a long-fought battle to control ever-rising drug prices for seniors and, eventually, other Americans. Under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Congress gave the federal […]

Last summer, Eloise Reynolds paid the bill for her husband’s final stay in the hospital. In February 2022, doctors said that Kent, her husband of 33 years, was too weak for the routine chemotherapy that had kept his colon cancer at bay since 2018. He was admitted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, not far […]