The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
In this episode, we get our bearings on self-funded insurance plans, and how they affect the average 鈥 sometimes burned-out 鈥 American worker trying to get answers about insurance.
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.
New, often lower-cost plans capitalize on the convenience of telemedicine 鈥 and patients鈥 growing familiarity with it. But consumers should weigh costs and care options before enrolling in a 鈥渧irtual-first鈥 plan.
The law says nonprofit hospitals are supposed to offer low-income patients financial assistance. But the average person doesn鈥檛 know about it. Here鈥檚 how to get help.
Like almost everything else associated with the covid-19 pandemic, partisans are taking sides over whether vaccines should be mandated. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling to find compromise in their effort to expand health insurance and other social programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews best-selling author Beth Macy about her book 鈥淒opesick,鈥 and the new Hulu miniseries based on it.
Patients soon will not have to worry about the prospect of these often-costly unexpected bills, a federal law promises. Some experts say the new policy could also slow the growth of health insurance premiums.
California Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored legislation to create and fund the state鈥檚 new 988 phone line for mental health emergencies, spoke with KHN about the effort and what more will be needed to create a full-fledged response network for people experiencing mental health crises.
The availability of covid testing and turnaround times for results still vary widely around the country, some 19 months since the pandemic was declared a national crisis. A jumbled testing system, technician burnout and squirrely spikes in demand are all part of the problem.
Hundreds of towns, cities and states across the U.S. have ignored part of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and now it鈥檚 costing them billions of dollars to comply.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to regulate out-of-control health care spending in California. The effort is being shaped by the very health industry players that would be regulated.
In a practice dating to the 1980s, many hospitals require people with alcohol-related liver disease to complete a period of sobriety before they can be added to the waiting list for a liver. But this thinking may be changing.
Long-term relationships between patients and doctors often enrich the quality of care and create deep emotional bonds. When the doctors retire or move on, saying goodbye can be hard.
But Americans generally have little confidence that the White House or Congress will recommend the right thing, a new poll shows.
Health care workers already bore the brunt of workplace violence in the U.S. Now, tensions from an exhausting pandemic are spilling over into hospitals.
Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a 鈥渕assive cash flow problem.鈥
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.
Effective immediately, it will be a misdemeanor in California to harass people on their way to get a covid, or any other, vaccine. But First Amendment experts say the new law violates free speech protections and could face a constitutional battle.
The American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress in March, provides $130 billion to cities, counties and tribes 鈥 with few restrictions on how the money can be spent.
As scientists argue whether a previous bout of covid offers the same amount of protection as vaccinations, people turn to the courts to decide.
Following a February KHN investigation into covid vaccine accessibility, the Department of Justice reached an agreement with five New York government agencies to make their websites accessible to people who are visually impaired.
