Health Care Costs

“If you need people to be there for the country and to fight for the country, why would you hold them up for a medical bill?” Samaria Bradford Samaria Bradford, 27, Goldsboro, North Carolina  Approximate Medical Debt: $5,000  Medical Issue: Emergency room care  What Happened: In late August 2022, Samaria Bradford was prepared to leave […]

“It’s like you’re being punished for being sick.” Penelope Wingard Penelope Wingard, 58, Charlotte, North Carolina  Approximate Medical Debt: More than $50,000  Medical Issue: Breast cancer  What Happened: After a year of chemo and radiation, in 2014, Penelope Wingard finally heard the news she’d been praying for: Her breast cancer was in remission. But with […]

We spent several weeks thinking … perhaps our only route is to declare bankruptcy. Jeff King Jeff King, 63, Lawrence, Kansas Approximate Medical Debt: $160,000 Medical Issue: Heart ablation What Happened: Kareen King calls it “the ultimate paradox”: The hospital that saved her husband’s heart also broke it. Jeff King needed his heart rhythm restored […]

Despite growing evidence of the harm caused by medical debt, hundreds of U.S. hospitals maintain policies to aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills, using tactics such as lawsuits, selling patient accounts to debt buyers, and reporting patients to credit rating agencies, a KHN investigation shows. The collection practices are commonplace among all types of hospitals […]

You’ve compared tuition. Reviewed on-campus housing costs. Even digested student meal plan prices. But have you thought about how much your son’s or daughter’s dream school will charge for health coverage? You might be in for a shock. Hawley Montgomery-Downs was thrilled when daughter Bryn Tronco earned a scholarship that pays half the $63,000 annual […]

Republican-led legislatures have repeatedly thwarted Medicaid expansion in a dozen conservative states, despite high numbers of uninsured residents. In recent years, supporters of expansion have found success with another strategy: letting voters decide. Since 2017, Medicaid expansion has passed in seven states where the issue was put on the ballot, adopting the Affordable Care Act […]

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. Coming Full Circle on Protections for Those With Disabilities As a retired special education teacher, I’m wondering why our elderly in retirement homes aren’t covered by the American with Disabilities Act […]

PÜTTLINGEN, Germany — Almost every day, Dr. Eckart Rolshoven sees the long shadow of coal mining in his clinic near the big brownstone church that dominates this small town in Germany’s Saarland. The region’s last-operating coal shaft, just a few miles away, closed a decade ago, ending centuries of mining in the Saarland, a mostly […]

KHN senior editor Andy Miller discussed Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on Dec. 5. Click here to hear Miller on “The Georgia Health Report” Read “Path Cleared for Georgia to Launch Work Requirements for Medicaid” by Miller and Sam Whitehead KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby discussed hospital price transparency on […]

La grave escasez de camas pediátricas que azota a la nación este otoño es en parte producto de las decisiones financieras tomadas por los hospitales durante la última década, como cerrar las salas infantiles, que a menudo operan en números rojos, y ampliar la cantidad de camas disponibles para proyectos más rentables como reemplazos articulares […]