Health Care Costs

An $88 “observation room” fee for a checkup didn’t sit right with Kari Greene, an “Arm and a Leg” listener from Oregon. When the price went up to $99 the next year, Kari complained to her benefits representative, who thought it was weird, too — but couldn’t do anything about it. In states like Connecticut […]

Californians in November will weigh in on a ballot initiative to increase scrutiny over the use of health-care dollars — particularly money from a federal drug discount program — meant to support patient care largely for low-income or indigent people. The revenue is sometimes used to address housing instability and homelessness among vulnerable patient populations. Voters […]

It’s that time of year again: In most states, the Affordable Care Act’s annual open enrollment season for health plans begins Nov. 1 and lasts through Jan. 15. Current enrollees who do not update their information or select an alternative will be automatically reenrolled in their current plan or, if that plan is no longer […]

While hot-button health care issues such as abortion and the Affordable Care Act roil the presidential race, Democrats and Republicans in statehouses around the country have been quietly working together to tackle the nation’s medical debt crisis. New laws to curb aggressive hospital billing, to expand charity care for lower-income patients, and to rein in […]

Mientras temas candentes de atención médica como el aborto y la Ley de Cuidado de la Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA) agitan la carrera presidencial, silenciosamente, en las legislaturas estatales de todo el país, demócratas y republicanos han estado trabajando juntos para abordar la crisis de la deuda médica en la nación. Desde 2021, en […]

Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz met in an Oct. 1 vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News that was cordial and heavy on policy discussion — a striking change from the Sept. 10 debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.  Vance and Walz acknowledged occasional agreement on […]

Dave Lantz is no stranger to emergency department or doctor bills. With three kids in their teens and early 20s, “when someone gets sick or breaks an arm, all of a sudden you have thousand-dollar medical bills,” Lantz said. The family’s health plan that he used to get as the assistant director of physical plant […]

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. Clarifying the FDA’s Role and Authority Over Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads While several inaccuracies in the recent opinion piece about direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements by KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal have been […]

In June 2019, Lija Greenseid handed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz an empty vial of insulin that her 13-year-old daughter had painted gold. Greenseid’s daughter has Type 1 diabetes, which means she requires daily injections of manufactured insulin to stay alive. The price of a single vial of insulin rose by about 1,200% between 1996 and […]

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A […]