Health Policy Valentines to Warm the Heart
Tweeters lit up our timeline in recent days with Health Policy Valentines about a variety of health topics. Here are some of our favorites.
Surprise Bills
81 - 100 of 147 Results
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat the Health?鈥: 2020 in Review 鈥 It Wasn鈥檛 All COVID
The coronavirus pandemic colored just about everything in 2020. But there was other health policy news that you either never heard or might have forgotten about: the Affordable Care Act going before the Supreme Court with its survival on the line; ditto for Medicaid work requirements. And a surprise ending to the 鈥渟urprise bill鈥 saga. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
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Surprise! Congress Takes Steps to Curb Unexpected Medical Bills
A long-debated measure to stop doctors, hospitals and other health care providers from billing patients for charges not covered by their insurance will gain congressional approval as part of the sweeping government spending package.
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat the Health?鈥: All I Want for Christmas Is a COVID Relief Bill
Congress seems on the verge of finishing a long-delayed COVID-19 relief bill, which will reportedly include neither of the things each party wanted most 鈥 for Republicans, liability protections; for Democrats, funding for states and localities. That bill is likely to be tied to a package to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year and, possibly, include a fix for 鈥渟urprise鈥 medical bills that patients receive when they inadvertently receive care outside their insurance network. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner talks to Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, about the future of employer-provided health insurance.
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Promises Kept? On Health Care, Trump’s Claims of 鈥楳onumental Steps’ Don鈥檛 Add Up
The president entered office seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act, revamp Medicaid and drive down prescription drug prices, among other things. He鈥檚 hit some stone walls.
By Julie Rovner and Phil Galewitz -
With No Legal Guardrails for Patients, Ambulances Drive Surprise Medical Billing
Studies show that at least half of ground ambulance rides across the nation leave patients with 鈥渟urprise鈥 medical bills. And a $300-a-mile ride is not unusual. Yet federal legislation to stem what鈥檚 known as balance billing has largely ignored ambulance costs.
By Laura Ungar -
鈥楢n Arm and a Leg鈥: How to Fight Bogus Medical Bills Like a Bulldog
When a colleague brings a medical billing problem to human resources director Steve Benasso 鈥 he goes to battle. 鈥淚 am a bulldog on this stuff,鈥 he said. In this episode, Benasso tells how he does it.
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Ever Heard of a Surgical Assistant? Meet a New Boost to Your Medical Bills
A college student鈥檚 bill for outpatient knee surgery is a whopper 鈥 $96K 鈥 but the most mysterious part is a $1,167 charge from a health care provider she didn鈥檛 even know was in the operating room.
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Bill Of The Month
COVID Catch-22: They Got A Big ER Bill Because Hospitals Couldn鈥檛 Test For Virus
Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills 鈥 because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.
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Ghost Bill: UVA Siphons Couple鈥檚 Tax Refund To Pay 20-Year-Old Medical Debt
Jane Collins and Anthony Blow were stunned to learn last fall that their state tax refund was being reduced by $110 because the Charlottesville medical center said they owed money for care their son received in 2001 and 2002.
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Congress Said COVID-19 Tests Should Be Free 鈥 But Who’s Paying?
Some large employers interpreted themselves as exempt from new federal laws that say tests for the coronavirus should be free to patients. Large academic medical centers are holding back from sending bills to these patients to avoid a backlash over surprise billing.
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Telehealth Will Be Free, No Copays, They Said. But Angry Patients Are Getting Billed.
Politicians pledged to stop providers from charging for video appointments or telephone calls, but some patients are being charged $70 or $80 per virtual visit.
By Jay Hancock -
In Fine Print, HHS Appears To Ban All Surprise Billing During The Pandemic
Language in the CARES Act says providers who take emergency funding cannot balance-bill coronavirus patients 鈥 and 鈥渆very patient鈥 is considered a possible COVID-19 patient.
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Analysis: He Got Tested For Coronavirus. Then Came The Flood Of Medical Bills.
Hidden costs for ER visits and other fees could cost people thousands of dollars.
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Crushed By A Hospital Bill? Stand Up For Yourself
Most hospitals must offer free or reduced-cost care to certain patients, based on income, even if they have insurance. But some hospitals erect barriers to charity care, so it鈥檚 up to patients to advocate for themselves.
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Analysis: Who Profits From Steep Medical Bills? The People Tasked With Fixing Them.
Surprise bills are just the latest weapons in a decades-long war among health care industry players over who gets to keep聽the fortunes generated each year from patient illness: $3.6 trillion聽in 2018. The practice is an outrage, yet no one in the health care sector wants to unilaterally make the type of big concessions that would change things.
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat The Health?鈥: Live from D.C. With Rep. Donna Shalala
President Donald Trump鈥檚 proposed budget includes billions of dollars in health spending cuts, Congress gets back to work on surprise medical bills, and health care remains a top issue for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), a former Health and Human Services secretary, joins the panel at a special taping before a live audience in Washington, D.C. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
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When Your Doctor Is Also A Lobbyist: Inside The War Over Surprise Medical Bills
As lawmakers consider bills to protect patients against surprise medical bills, doctors have waged a stealth on-the-ground campaign to win over members of Congress. Here鈥檚 how they did it.
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One Defensive Strategy Against Surprise Medical Bills: Set Your Own Terms
By writing in payment limits when signing hospital forms, patients might have leverage in negotiations over disputes that arise from surprise medical bills.
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Women Shouldn鈥檛 Get A Bill For An IUD 鈥 But Sometimes They Do
The Affordable Care Act requires that insurers cover birth control with no out-of-pocket costs, but the enforcement mechanism is weak and a pending court case could add further complications.