After Wiping Out $6.7 Billion in Medical Debt, This Nonprofit Is Just Getting Started
Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.
Cost and Quality
81 - 100 of 3,361 Results
-
-
No, the Senate-Passed Reconciliation Bill Won鈥檛 Strip $300 Billion From Medicare
Under the Medicare drug negotiations provisions in the reconciliation bill, the federal government would see its outlays reduced by about $300 billion. That reduction wouldn鈥檛 result from cuts in benefits. Instead, Medicare would be empowered to leverage its market power to pay lower prices for certain drugs.
-
Rapper Fat Joe Says No One Is Making Sure Hospitals Post Their Prices
A TV and social media ad offers a reason to check on the enforcement of a sweeping rule that requires hospitals to post information about what they charge insurers and cash-paying patients.
-
鈥楢n Arm and a Leg鈥: Her Bill for a Prenatal Test Felt Like a ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Scheme
Her doctor told her the noninvasive genetic test would be $99. When she called, she was told $250 and if she didn't pay quickly it could be $800.
-
Perspective
The Debt Crisis That Sick Americans Can鈥檛 Avoid
The federal government is stepping in to assist student loan borrowers. But little public attention has been focused on what is 鈥 statistically, at least 鈥 a bigger, broader debt crisis in our country: An estimated 100 million people in the U.S., or 41% of all adults, are saddled with pernicious health care debt.
-
Watch: Explaining the Nitty-Gritty of Medicare Drug Price Negotiations 鈥 And Patients’ Potential Savings
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discusses the Senate Democrats鈥 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.
-
Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts
Debt lawsuits 鈥 long a byproduct of America鈥檚 medical debt crisis 鈥 can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
-
Listen: Can California Lower the Price of Insulin?
California Healthline senior correspondent Angela Hart describes California鈥檚 ambitious plan to manufacture generic insulin under the state鈥檚 new 鈥淐alRx鈥 drug label.
-
鈥楾rue Cost of Aging鈥 Index Shows Many Seniors Can鈥檛 Afford Basic Necessities
The Elder Index, developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, shows that nearly 5 million older women living alone, 2 million older men living alone, and more than 2 million older couples have incomes that make them economically insecure.
-
鈥楽o Rudderless鈥: A Couple鈥檚 Quest for Autism Treatment for Their Son Hits Repeated Obstacles
Amparo and Victor Rios began searching for answers about their son鈥檚 development when he didn鈥檛 hit some milestones after turning 2. Three years later, they are still trying to get their insurance to pay for expensive therapy to help him.
-
Parents Become Drug Developers to Save Their Children鈥檚 Lives
Families affected by ultra-rare diseases are starting their own companies to speed the development of treatments for their kids, venturing into territory that traditional drugmakers deem too risky.
-
No-Bid Medicaid Contract for Kaiser Permanente Is Now California Law, but Key Details Are Missing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last month that authorizes a statewide Medicaid contract for HMO giant Kaiser Permanente. But details still need to be worked out in a memorandum of understanding.
-
Biden鈥檚 FTC Has Blocked 4 Hospital Mergers and Is Poised to Thwart More Consolidation Attempts
The president has directed the Federal Trade Commission to carefully consider health industry mergers that may stymie competition and drive up prices. The new Democratic majority appears eager to look beyond traditional hospital consolidations to deals that involve products, services, or staffing.
By Harris Meyer -
Listen: Why Medical Debt Touches Every Corner of America
KHN senior correspondent Noam N. Levey joined WBEZ and Wisconsin Public Radio to talk about medical debt and health care costs in the U.S.
-
Patients With Epilepsy Navigate Murky Unregulated CBD Industry
The FDA has approved a cannabis-derived drug, Epidiolex, to treat some forms of epilepsy. Now people who have other forms of the condition are using over-the-counter CBD products in hopes of taming their seizures. But doctors and patients worry about the unregulated world of CBD, in which product ingredients can be a mystery.
By Eric Berger -
鈥楢n Arm and a Leg鈥: One ER Doctor Grapples With the Inequities of American Health Care
This episode is an interview with Dr. Thomas Fisher, author of "The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER."
-
Medi-Cal鈥檚 Reliance on Prisoners to Make Cheaper Eyeglasses Proves Shortsighted
In California, where inmates manufacture glasses for Medi-Cal, enrollees and providers can wait months for their orders. Now, state lawmakers are considering allowing clinics to order from private labs as well.
-
In America, Cancer Patients Endure Debt on Top of Disease
Medical breakthroughs mean cancer is less likely to kill, but survival can come at an extraordinary cost as patients drain savings, declare bankruptcy, or lose their homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
-
‘Free’ Screening? Know Your Rights to Get No-Cost Care
Even a decade in, the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 recommendations to simply cover preventive screening and care without cost sharing remain confusing and complex.
-
Listen: He Was Denied Care Because He Owed His Doctor Less Than $100
NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" interview KHN's Noam N. Levey about the problem of crippling medical debt in America.