A Barbaric Problem in American Hospitals Is Only Getting Bigger
Patients are getting stuck in the emergency department for days while waiting for a spot in an inpatient ward.
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Patients are getting stuck in the emergency department for days while waiting for a spot in an inpatient ward.
窪蹋勛圖厙 News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Heres a collection of their appearances.
A long stay in intensive care can bring physical, cognitive, and mental health challenges that can take months or longer to resolve.
Dentists, hygienists, and researchers say a shortage of rural dental care professionals and worsening oral hygiene since the covid-19 pandemic mean more kids are ending up in the emergency room for tooth decay.
With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned to culture war issues. Meanwhile, confusion remains the watchword at HHS as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the latest Bill of the Month report.
As the crowdsourced investigative series from 窪蹋勛圖厙 News approaches its eighth anniversary, Bill of the Month offers its top takeaways of 2025 to help patients manage, decipher, and even fight their medical bills.
Some patients who had liposuction or other surgeries later required emergency hospital care and some died, court records show.
Homemade hot sauce sent a Colorado man to the emergency room with what he called the worst pain of my life. But stomach cramps were only the beginning. Two years later, the bill came.
More immigrants in New Orleans and Mississippi are skipping important health care appointments and experiencing heightened stress amid federal immigration raids.
窪蹋勛圖厙 News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.
After her son contracted a serious bacterial infection, an Ohio mother took the toddler to a nearby ER, and staffers there sent him to a childrens hospital in an ambulance. With no insurance, the family was hit with a $9,250 bill for the 40-minute ride.
Even if people qualify for financial help with their hospital bills, the care they receive may not be covered.
Some doctors and the groups that represent them say physicians extensive training leads to better emergency care, and that some hospitals are trying to save money by not hiring them. They support new laws in Indiana, Virginia, and South Carolina that require physicians to be on-site 24/7.
窪蹋勛圖厙 News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
The No Surprises Act, which was signed in 2020 and took effect in 2022, was heralded as a landmark piece of legislation that would protect people who had health insurance from receiving surprise medical bills. And yet bills that take patients by surprise keep coming.
A Colorado bill banning surprise billing for ambulance rides passed unanimously in both legislative chambers, only to be met with a veto from the governor. As more states pass such legislation, some are hitting the same snag concerns about raising premiums.
The Houses gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Offices estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade wont make it an easy sell. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Arielle Zionts, who reported and wrote the latest Bill of the Month feature, about a Medicaid patient who had an out-of-state emergency.
In 9 of 10 cases, a person in cardiac arrest will die because help doesnt arrive quickly enough. With CPR and, possibly, a shock from an automated external defibrillator, survival odds double. But Americans lack confidence and know-how to handle these interventions.
The Supreme Court opined for the first time that Trump administration officials may be exceeding their authority to reshape the federal government by refusing to honor completed contracts, even as lower-court judges started blocking efforts to fire workers, freeze funding, and cancel ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, public health officials are alarmed at the Department of Health and Human Services public handling of Texas widening measles outbreak, particularly the secretarys less-than-full endorsement of vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Stephanie Armour of 窪蹋勛圖厙 News join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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