Health Care Costs

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. A 30-minute video about health insurance terminology has racked up more than a million views.  Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Brian David Gilbert, the person behind the video.  Gilbert is best known for his videos for Polygon, a media […]

The dire shortage of pediatric hospital beds plaguing the nation this fall is a byproduct of financial decisions made by hospitals over the past decade, as they shuttered children’s wards, which often operate in the red, and expanded the number of beds available for more profitable endeavors like joint replacements and cancer care. To cope […]

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on PRX. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Click here for a transcript of the episode. The lame-duck Congress is making slow progress on its long to-do-before-the-end-of-the-year list. Democrats agreed to lift the covid-19 vaccine […]

Anna Sutton was shocked when she received a letter from her husband’s job-based health plan stating that Humira, an expensive drug used to treat her daughter’s juvenile arthritis, was now on a long list of medications considered “nonessential benefits.” The July 2021 letter said the family could either participate in a new effort overseen by […]

Tras haber tenido éxito invirtiendo en las áreas más lucrativas de la medicina, como los centros quirúrgicos y las consultas de dermatología, las empresas de capital riesgo/inversión se han adentrado agresivamente en los nichos más ocultos del sector. Están invirtiendo miles de millones en el negocio de los ensayos clínicos de medicamentos. Para lanzar un […]

Listen to this story: (Click here to listen on SoundCloud.) A Missouri man who is deaf and blind said a medical bill he didn’t know existed was sent to debt collections, triggering an 11% rise in his home insurance premiums. An insurer has suspended a blind woman’s coverage every year since 2010 after mailing printed […]

After finding success investing in the more obviously lucrative corners of American medicine — like surgery centers and dermatology practices — private equity firms have moved aggressively into the industry’s more hidden niches: They are pouring billions into the business of clinical drug trials. To bring a new drug to market, the FDA requires pharmaceutical […]

KHN senior correspondent Angela Hart joined the nonpartisan group Democracy Winters on Nov. 19 to discuss the politics of health care in California. She focused on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s major health care initiatives, including a transformation of the state Medicaid program that will bring nontraditional, social services to some enrollees — with a focus on […]

When Jerry Bilinski, a 67-year-old retired social worker, scheduled cataract surgery with Carolina Eye Associates near his home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he expected no drama, just a future with better vision. Cataract procedures are among the most common surgeries in the U.S. — nearly 4 million take place annually — and generally take about […]

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. Envy for-profit US healthcare? Check out this MD whose wife is a medical billing expert who spent over a year challenging an egregious billing error. After it all they still paid […]