Bill of the Month
麻豆女优 Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, examines and decodes your perplexing medical bills.
Investigations
Priced Out
America鈥檚 health insurance crisis
Deadly Denials
Prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities.
181 - 200 of 417 Results
-
Did Your Health Plan Rip Off Medicare?
KHN has released never-before-seen details of federal audits as the government weighs action against dozens of Medicare Advantage plans.
By Fred Schulte -
Watch: Patient Sent to Collections for Surgery She Never Had
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss how difficult a clerical error can be to fix and how patients can respond if it happens to them.
-
KHN-NPR鈥檚 鈥楤ill of the Month鈥 at 5: A Treasury of Solutions for Confounding Medical Bills
Readers and listeners shared more than 1,000 personal stories of medical billing problems with KHN-NPR鈥檚 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 investigative series this year, helping us illuminate the financial decisions patients are pressed to make in their most vulnerable moments.
-
ER Doctors Call Private Equity Staffing Practices Illegal and Seek to Ban Them
Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.
-
The Case of the Two Grace Elliotts: A Medical Billing Mystery
A health system charged a woman for a shoulder replacement at a hospital across the country that she had not visited for years. She didn鈥檛 receive the care, but she did receive the bill 鈥 and the medical records of a stranger.
-
An Air Force Career Held up Because of Debt Owed for Medical Bills
Emergency room care left Samaria Bradford with $5,000 in medical bills. Now she has to track down and pay that debt before she can hope to enlist in the military.
-
Her Credit Was Ruined by Medical Debt. She鈥檚 Been Turned Away From Doctors, Jobs, and Loans
When Penelope Wingard's cancer went into remission, she lost her Medicaid coverage in North Carolina. Without insurance, the debts piled up for her follow-up care. She doesn't think she'll ever get ahead of it.
-
From Her View in Knoxville, the Health System Is 鈥楴ot Designed for Poor People鈥
Monica Reed was the first in her family to own a home and has lived "a frugal kind of life." Cancer treatment left her with almost $10,000 in debt, pushing her to the edge financially.
-
A Medical Cost-Sharing Plan Left Pastor With Most Of The Cost
Jeff and Kareen King joined a medical cost-sharing plan advertised as a "refreshing non-insurance approach" to paying for health care. It had a big proviso: Preexisting conditions like Jeff's heart condition were not fully covered for the first two years. He needed heart surgery after just 16 months.
-
Hundreds of Hospitals Sue Patients or Threaten Their Credit, a KHN Investigation Finds. Does Yours?
An examination of billing policies and practices at more than 500 hospitals across the country shows widespread reliance on aggressive collection tactics.
-
What Germany鈥檚 Coal Miners Can Teach America About Medical Debt
Coal mining ended in Germany鈥檚 Saarland a decade ago, but the transition away from coal has been smoother than in West Virginia, which has more medical debt than any state in America.
-
How Medicare Advantage Plans Dodged Auditors and Overcharged Taxpayers by Millions
Facing rare scrutiny from federal auditors, some Medicare Advantage health plans failed to produce any records to justify their payments, government records show. The audits revealed millions of dollars in overcharges to Medicare over three years.
By Fred Schulte and Holly K. Hacker -
In Rural America, Deadly Costs of Opioids Outweigh the Dollars Tagged to Address Them
Some people say it鈥檚 reasonable for densely populated areas to receive more settlement funds, since they serve more of those affected. But others worry this overlooks rural communities disproportionately harmed by opioid addiction.
By Aneri Pattani and Rae Ellen Bichell -
KHN Investigation: The System Feds Rely On to Stop Repeat Health Fraud Is Broken
A months-long KHN examination of the system meant to bar fraudsters from Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health programs found gaping holes and expansive gray areas through which banned individuals slip to repeatedly bilk taxpayer-funded programs.
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Lauren Weber -
The Business of Clinical Trials Is Booming. Private Equity Has Taken Notice.
Private equity-backed Headlands Research heralded its covid-19 vaccine trials as a chance to boost participation among diverse populations, then it shuttered multiple sites that conducted them.
-
An Unexplained Injury Discovered After Eye Surgery. What Should Happen Next?
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, an expert says. Here鈥檚 how patients can respond.
-
When Malpractice Occurs at Community Health Centers, Taxpayers Pay
Federally funded clinics and their doctors are protected against lawsuits by federal law, with taxpayers footing the bill. The health centers say that allows them to better serve their low-income patients, but lawyers say the system handcuffs consumers with a cumbersome legal process and makes it harder for the public to see problems.
By Phil Galewitz and Bram Sable-Smith -
Schools, Sheriffs, and Syringes: State Plans Vary for Spending $26B in Opioid Settlement Funds
The cash represents an unprecedented opportunity to derail the opioid epidemic, but with countless groups advocating for their share of the pie, the impact could depend heavily on geography and politics.
-
Audits 鈥 Hidden Until Now 鈥 Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges
Taxpayers had to foot the bills for care that should have cost far less, according to records released after KHN filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. The government may seek to recover up to $650 million as a result.
By Fred Schulte and Holly K. Hacker -
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.
By Noam N. Levey and Aneri Pattani