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.
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Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This episode is an interview with Dr. Thomas Fisher, author of "The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER."
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.
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.
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.
NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" interview KHN's Noam N. Levey about the problem of crippling medical debt in America.
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