How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can鈥檛 Pay Their Medical Bills
Hospitals strike deals with financing companies, generating profits for lenders, and more debt for patients.
North Carolina
181 - 200 of 263 Results
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How Optimism Can Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap
Low-income residents in states that haven鈥檛 expanded Medicaid are in a tough spot: They don鈥檛 qualify for the subsidies that people with slightly higher incomes get to buy marketplace plans because of a glitch in the federal health law. But a court decision last year makes it easier for them to make good-faith estimates of a pay increase, and there is no financial penalty if they don鈥檛 hit that figure.
By Phil Galewitz and Daniel Chang -
Thousands of Experts Hired to Aid Public Health Departments Are Losing Their Jobs
As the covid-19 pandemic raged, an independent nonprofit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hired an army of seasoned professionals to fill the gaps in the country鈥檚 public health system. Now, the money has largely run out, and state and local health departments are again without their expertise.
By Lauren Weber -
Sick Profit: Investigating Private Equity鈥檚 Stealthy Takeover of Health Care Across Cities and Specialties
Private equity firms have shelled out almost $1 trillion to acquire nearly 8,000 health care businesses, in deals almost always hidden from federal regulators. The result: higher prices, lawsuits, and complaints about care.
By Fred Schulte -
Abortion Issue Helps Limit Democrats鈥 Losses in Midterms
Although control of Congress was still undecided Wednesday, Republicans seemed poised to take power in the House, while the fate of the Senate remained too close to call. Economic issues were at the top of voters鈥 minds, but abortion access also played a large role in their decisions.
By Julie Rovner -
鈥楩ourth Trimester鈥 Focus Is Pushed to Prevent Maternal Deaths
Public health investigators found that 53% of maternal deaths happened well after a mother left the hospital 鈥 from seven days to a year after the birth.
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Hospitals Said They Lost Money on Medicare Patients. Some Made Millions, a State Report Finds.
A North Carolina state treasurer鈥檚 report found hospitals give conflicting information about whether they profit from Medicare patients. Experts said the findings are significant because they suggest the federal government has failed to closely watch the billions of dollars in tax breaks that nonprofit hospitals have received.
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As Giant Hospitals Get Bigger, an Independent Doctor Feels the Pinch
Independent medical practices keep closing as doctors join behemoth hospital groups or leave the field. Research suggests that鈥檚 bad news for patients. Studies repeatedly conclude that consolidation in the health care industry is driving up costs while showing no clear evidence of improved care.
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Baby, That Bill Is High: Private Equity 鈥楪ambit鈥 Squeezes Excessive ER Charges From Routine Births
Hospitals, boosted by private equity-backed staffing companies, have embraced a new idea: the obstetrics emergency department. Often, it is just a triage room in the labor-and-delivery area, but it bills like the main emergency department.
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Medical Debt Sunk Her Credit. New Changes From the Credit Reporting Agencies Won鈥檛 Help.
New policies to prevent unpaid medical bills from harming people鈥檚 credit scores are on the way. But the concessions made by top credit reporting companies may fall short for those with the largest debt 鈥 especially Black Americans in the South.
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Listen: Medical Bills Upended Her Life and Her Credit Score
Penny Wingard, 58, of Charlotte, North Carolina, worries she won鈥檛 ever get out from under her medical debt despite new policies that are supposed to prevent medical debt from harming people鈥檚 credit scores.
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Few Places Have More Medical Debt Than Dallas-Fort Worth, but Hospitals There Are Thriving
Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.
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A Disability Program Promised to Lift People From Poverty. Instead, It Left Many Homeless.
A federal disability program meant to provide basic income for people unable to work has left many of its recipients homeless. Advocates for the poor say the crisis is growing worse as rents rise and Congress decides whether to make changes to the program that would affect millions of people.
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Some Rural Hospitals Are in Such Bad Shape, Local Governments Are Practically Giving Them Away
Coming out of the pandemic, many rural hospitals are in even rougher shape than before. So rough that some are now practically being handed to investors for little more than a pledge to keep them open.
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Social Media Posts Criticize the 988 Suicide Hotline for Calling Police. Here鈥檚 What You Need to Know.
The July launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was celebrated by many mental health providers and advocates, but it triggered concerns, too, from people who say using the service could lead to increased law enforcement involvement or forced hospitalization.
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Post-鈥楻oe,鈥 People Are Seeking Permanent Sterilizations, and Some Are Being Turned Away
Doctors in states where abortion is or could be banned say more patients are seeking permanent sterilization procedures, but some patients are reporting that providers are unwilling to operate on people of childbearing age.
By Aaron Bolton, MTPR and Ellis Juhlin -
As Big Pharma Loses Interest in New Antibiotics, Infections Are Only Growing Stronger
Existing drugs still treat most infections. But that has discouraged investment in new drugs that will be needed when 鈥 not if 鈥攖he old ones fail.
By Arthur Allen -
Listen: Julie Rovner Rehashes the ‘Roe’ Decision
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
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Medical Bills Can Shatter Lives. North Carolina May Act to 鈥楧e-Weaponize鈥 That Debt.
Medical debt is most prevalent in the Southeast, where states have not expanded Medicaid and have few consumer protection laws. Now, North Carolina is considering two bills that could change that, making the state a leader in protecting patients from high medical bills.
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Upended: How Medical Debt Changed Their Lives
People talk about the sacrifices they made when health care forced them into debt.