Stranded by the Pandemic, He Had Only Travel Insurance. It Left Him With a $38,000 Bill.
Although it鈥檚 possible to buy travel insurance that provides some health coverage, the devil is in the fine print. Obama-era laws that prevent refusal of payment for preexisting conditions don鈥檛 apply to travel insurance.
Hormone Blocker Sticker Shock 鈥 Again 鈥 As Patients Lose Cheaper Drug Option
Kids who need a hormone-blocking drug to delay puberty have lost an off-label option. The nearly identical drug the company still sells costs eight times more.
KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat the Health?鈥: Compromise Is Coming 鈥 Maybe
Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Biden鈥檚 social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.
How Billing Turns a Routine Birth Into a High-Cost Emergency
鈥淥bstetrical emergency departments鈥 are a new feature in some hospitals that can inflate medical bills for even the easiest, healthiest births. Just ask the parents of Baby Gus.
驴Un test de covid m谩s caro que un Tesla? En Texas es posible
A lo largo de la pandemia, abundaron las historias de precios sorprendentemente altos para las pruebas de covid. Pero 茅ste supera a todos.
A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
Watch: Same Providers, Similar Surgeries, But Different Bills
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins “CBS This Morning” to discuss the latest Bill of the Month installment, in which a man discovered the hard way that health plans can vary from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.
Jaw Surgery Takes a $27,119 Bite out of One Man鈥檚 Budget
A Seattle patient discovers the hard way that you can still hit a lifetime limit for certain types of care. And health plans can vary a lot from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.
Watch: Cyclist Hits Olympic-Size Medical Bills After Crash
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal appears on “CBS This Morning” to discuss the latest installment of the KHN-NPR Bill of the Month investigative series.
Olympic Dream Dashed After Bike Crash and Nightmare Medical Bill Over $200K
A bicyclist from California competed in a Pennsylvania race that could have landed him in this month鈥檚 Tokyo Olympics. Instead, a crash on the velodrome track landed him in two hospitals where his out-of-state, out-of-network surgeries garnered huge bills.
Bye-Bye to Health Insurance 鈥楤irthday Rule鈥? Kansas Lawmaker Floats Fix
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) introduced a bill to do away with a health insurance rule that dictates which parent鈥檚 plan becomes a new baby鈥檚 primary insurer. This could save some parents from unexpected, sometimes massive medical bills. Davids took up the issue after a KHN/NPR Bill of the Month story on one family鈥檚 unexpected $207,455 NICU bill.
KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat the Health?鈥: Here Comes Reconciliation
Democrats in Congress reached a tentative agreement to press ahead on a partisan bill that would dramatically expand health benefits for people on Medicare, those who buy their own insurance and individuals who have been shut out of coverage in states that didn鈥檛 expand Medicaid. Meanwhile, controversy continues to rage over whether vaccinated Americans will need a booster to protect against covid-19 variants, and who will pay for a new drug to treat Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode about a mother and daughter who fought an enormous emergency room bill.
How ERs Fail Patients With Addiction: One Patient鈥檚 Tragic Death
Two intractable failings of the U.S. health care system 鈥 addiction treatment and medical costs 鈥 come to a head in the ER, where patients desperate for addiction treatment arrive, only to find the facility may not be equipped to deal with substance use or, if they are, treatment is prohibitively expensive.
A Hospital Charged $722.50 to Push Medicine Through an IV. Twice.
A college student never got an answer for what caused her intense pain, but she did get a bill that totaled $18,736 for an ER visit. She and her mom, a nurse practitioner, fought to understand all the charges.
Suficiente para arruinar el descanso: le cobran $10,322 por un estudio del sue帽o
Por un estudio del sue帽o para resolver su apnea, recibi贸 una factura que es seis veces superior a la que paga Medicare.
Enough to Wreck Their Rest: $10,322 for a Sleep Study
The University of Miami Health System charges a truck driver six times what Medicare would pay for an overnight test.
Watch: What Happens When Car and Health Insurance Collide
KHN Editor-in-Chief Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal helps accident victims avoid pitfalls in seeking medical care 鈥 a conundrum profiled in KHN-NPR’s most recent Bill of the Month installment.
After Accident, Patient Crashes Into $700,000 Bill for Spine Surgery
Generous personal injury coverage on your car policy may not be enough to cover medical bills. Patients can get financially blindsided when auto insurance and health insurance policies differ.
Tras accidente de auto, paciente se estrella contra factura de $700,000 por cirug铆a de columna
La vida de Mark Gottlieb cambi贸 en un instante cuando otro conductor choc贸 contra su auto. Se da帽贸 cuatro v茅rtebras de la parte superior de la columna vertebral y se destroz贸 seis dientes.
Her Doctor鈥檚 Office Moved One Floor Up. Her Bill Was 10 Times Higher.
Same building. Same procedure. Same doctor. But now you鈥檙e charged a hospital facility fee. For one Ohio Medicare patient, the copay for a shot that used to cost her about $30 went up to more than $300.
