Tina Kelley
By TINA KELLEY and PHOEBE PINDER (Note: Coronavirus news is changing quickly. We’re trying to update as warranted.) As the coronavirus spreads, many Americans with symptoms wonder if they should get tested, and where. (We discuss how much it can cost to do so here.) Do you have something we need to know about this? […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Every politician condemns the phenomenon of ‘surprise’ medical bills. This week, two committees in the House are marking up new surprise billing legislation,” Elisabeth Rosenthal writes in The New York Times. “One of the few policy proposals President Trump brought up in this year’s State of the Union address was his 2019 executive order targeting […]
Jeanne Pinder
“The more than $34,000 in medical bills that contributed to Darla and Andy Markley’s bankruptcy and loss of their home in Beloit, Wisconsin, grew out of what felt like a broken promise,” Lauren Weber writes at Kaiser Health News. “Darla Markley, 53, said her insurer had sent her a letter preapproving her to have a […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Each year brings a fresh episode of popular and political outrage over high drug prices,” Christopher Rowland writes for The Washington Post. “In 2019, it was insulin’s turn in the spotlight. The lifesaving drug for diabetics surged in list price more than 250 percent over a recent 10-year span — despite being a century-old invention. The […]
Jeanne Pinder
“The cost of private health insurance is out of control, compared to Medicare and Medicaid,” Drew Altman of the Kaiser Family Foundation writes on Axios. “You see that clearly if you take a long-term view of recently released federal data on health spending. This is why the health care industry — not just insurers, but […]
Jeanne Pinder
“High health care costs in Indiana have caught the eye of Republican legislative leaders, who plan to tackle the issue during the 2020 session,” Niki Kelly writes in The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind. “Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray called the issue an economic development problem because employers are paying a large part […]
Jeanne Pinder
“What good is health care you can’t get?” Paul John Scott and Jeremy Fugleberg write in The Grand Forks Herald. “Ask Katie Larson. She’s 30, a resident of Lake George, Minn., and the office manager at Coldwell Banker Clack & Dennis Real Estate in Park Rapids. ‘I avoid using the doctor any time I can,’ […]
Genine Babakian
(Updated, 2019) One in five adults in the U.S. experience a mental health problem in any given year, yet limited or no mental health insurance prevents more than half of them from receiving treatment. The Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity Law sought to bridge the divide between physical and behavioral health coverage […]
Genine Babakian
(Updated, 2019) Paying for mental health care is difficult for many. Even for those who are insured, restrictions on mental health coverage require many Americans to pay quite a lot out of pocket, in spite of mental health parity laws. According to a 2016 survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), in spite of […]
Jeanne Pinder
“More than 30 million women get mammograms a year. And while many thought they were free and preventative, they ended up with big bills,” Anna Werner, our partner, writes over at CBS News. “The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides for free mammograms every one to two years for women aged 40 and over. But many […]
