The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
21 - 40 of 57 Results
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discusses the Senate Democrats’ plans to let Medicare negotiate some drug prices, cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and fund enhanced subsides for ACA marketplace health plans.
Congress is back in session, but covid diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a working majority to approve continued covid funding. Meanwhile, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed yet another lawsuit challenging a portion of the law, and we say goodbye to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who left a long legacy of health laws. Rachel Cohrs of STAT News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Drug copayment assistance is a form of profitable charity — and, yes, that’s an oxymoron. Amid skyrocketing drug prices, it's understandable that patients desperately need help affording medicine, especially when their health is on the line. But these programs create a mirage that perpetuates our health care system’s reckless spending.
Even a personal finance expert can get stuck with a huge unexpected bill for a drug. Listen up for what you need to know about "copay accumulators."
Years in the making, a new federal law against surprise medical bills took effect Jan. 1.
The University of Miami Health System charges a truck driver six times what Medicare would pay for an overnight test.
COVID-19’s “long haulers” — patients with lingering effects of the disease — have joined the ranks of Americans with preexisting conditions. For those shopping for health coverage on the individual market, here’s help navigating an uncharted insurance landscape.
“An Arm and a Leg” is back sharing stories about the ways COVID-19 intersects with the cost of health care. To tackle a listener’s question about health coverage, Dan Weissmann spoke with one of the country’s top insurance nerds.
There are important distinctions between how insurance companies will cover the test and the treatment. This makes the president’s statement an exaggeration, at best.
It’s open enrollment season for health insurance. And choosing the best plan is tricky whether you have to buy insurance on your own or just figure out which plan to sign up for at work. Here’s what you need to know.
In 21st-century US health care, everything is revenue, and so everything is billed.
U.S. political parties for years have argued about the role of government in providing health care and expanding coverage to more people. But as the cost of medical services continues to grow faster than most Americans’ incomes, even people with private insurance coverage are finding the cost of care becoming unaffordable, KHN’s Julie Rovner writes in a new article in BMJ.
Under the rule that took effect this year, Medicare will lower payments for clinic visits performed at hospital-owned facilities to a rate that is equivalent to what it pays an independent doctor. Federal officials expect the move will save the government $380 million this year.
An Arizona couple played by the rules and bought employer-provided health insurance. But after they had a baby this year, their out-of-pocket hospital costs and doctors’ bills climbed to more than $12,000 — and medical debt now threatens their new family.
The rising costs of premiums, deductibles and copayments have driven millions who don’t get a subsidy to drop their coverage or turn to cheaper, less comprehensive — and sometimes inadequate — insurance.
Sometimes a drug plan’s copayment is higher than the cash price, and under a little-known federal rule, pharmacists have to tell Medicare beneficiaries that — but only if they ask.
More health plans are refusing to count the copayment assistance offered by drug makers as part of the patients’ deductibles or out-of-pocket limits.
The drugmaker agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department over allegations that it funneled copay assistance money through a foundation to Medicare patients.
As free-standing emergency departments multiply, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommends a 30 percent reduction in some federal reimbursements for those within 6 miles of a hospital.
This year’s Obamacare open enrollment will be marked by a number of changes. KHN helps you navigate them.
© 2026 KFF