Health Care Costs

Jenni Mahnaz admite que no le gustan mucho los perros. Es ligeramente alérgica y la única mascota que tuvo de niña fue un cangrejo ermitaño. Pero cuando supo que los entrenados para asistir a las personas podían ayudar a sus hijas con sus necesidades médicas, decidió conseguir uno al precio que fuera. A su hija […]

Jenni Mahnaz admits she’s not much of a dog person. She’s mildly allergic and the only pet she had as a child was a hermit crab. But once she learned that specially trained dogs could help her daughters with their medical needs, she was willing to do anything to make it happen. Her oldest daughter, […]

The Biden administration and state officials are bracing for a great unwinding: millions of people losing their Medicaid benefits when the pandemic health emergency ends. Some might sign up for different insurance. Many others are bound to get lost in the transition. State Medicaid agencies for months have been preparing for the end of a […]

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. On Jan. 1, Americans woke up with some new protections from giant medical bills.  Meet the No Surprises Act. It’s a new law that protects patients from one of the worst experiences the U.S. health care system has to […]

I got a hurried voicemail from my pharmacist in Wisconsin the day before Thanksgiving letting me know my insurance was refusing to cover my insulin. I had enough of the hormone that keeps me alive to last 17 days. In my 10 years living with Type 1 diabetes, I’ve never really struggled to access insulin. […]

Dhaval Bhatt had been warned about hospital emergency rooms. “People always told me to avoid the ER in America unless you are really dying,” said Bhatt, an immigrant from India who got a Ph.D. in pharmacology in the U.S. and is now a research scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. But when Bhatt’s 2-year-old […]

Un embarazo no planificado, y complicado, puso a Carlazjion Constant, de Smyrna, Tennessee, al borde del abismo financiero. Durante el embarazo de alto riesgo, su seguro de salud con deducible alto no pagó prácticamente nada por las críticas visitas adicionales al obstetra. Justo cuando esas facturas por un total de $5,000 vencieron el año pasado, […]

An unplanned and complicated pregnancy pushed Carlazjion Constant of Smyrna, Tennessee, to the financial brink. Her high-deductible health insurance paid virtually nothing toward the extra obstetrician visits needed during her high-risk pregnancy. Just as those bills totaling $5,000 came due last year, a real estate company started garnishing her paycheck over a broken lease during […]

The federal No Surprises Act, which aims to eliminate unexpected out-of-network medical bills, took effect Jan. 1, and KHN correspondents hit the airwaves to explain the new law. KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby appeared on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Sunday to give background on why the law was necessary: Surveys showed that up to 1 […]

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 […]