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A KHN investigation finds that hospitals with high rates of covid patients who didnāt have the diagnosis when they were admitted have rarely been held accountable due to multiple gaps in government oversight.
Legislative crackdowns on out-of-network bills havenāt kept specialists from hitting patients with unexpected charges running into thousands of dollars.
After baby Dorian Bennett arrived two months early and spent more than 50 days in the neonatal ICU, his parents received a bill of more than $550,000 ā despite having insurance. The Florida hospital had a not-so-helpful suggestion: monthly payments of more than $45,000 for a year.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
Facility fees, designed to help hospitals cover the high cost of staying open 24/7, have long rankled consumers. Now, some patients are assessed the fees while sitting at home for a telehealth appointment.
Patients with other ailments are frustrated, and nurses and doctors are stressed and burned out, as unvaccinated covid-19 patients fill ICU and acute care beds.
A record number of hospitals closed in rural America last year. For the residents of Cuthbert, Georgia, the loss has meant many problems, including delayed care for emergencies that can turn deadly.
The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association are not arguing to halt the law that protects patients from unexpected bills from providers they didnāt know were outside their insurance network. Instead, they want to change the rules for the mediators who will settle the dispute between insurers and providers.
Montana nonprofit hospitals receive millions of dollars in tax exemptions as charities each year in exchange for giving back to their communities. A KHN review found that some of Montanaās richest medical centers are falling behind most state and national hospitals.
As hospitals juggle holiday covid surges and all their other patients, the global supply chain crisis has left them short of critical supplies.
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
Physician assistants are pushing to be renamed āphysician associates,ā complaining their title is belittling and doesnāt convey what they do. āWe donāt assist,ā they insist. Doctorsā groups fear thereās more than just a name in play.
Hospitals in Montana and Idaho reported threats and harassment from public officials and family members of patients who were denied treatment with a drug not authorized to treat covid-19.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
With few options for health care in their rural community, a Tennessee coupleās experience with one outrageous bill could have led to a deadly decision the next time they needed help.
Congress last year shielded consumers from unexpected out-of-network charges, but hospitals and doctors have decried the arbitration plan put forward by the Biden administration for negotiating these bills as favoring insurers. More than 150 members of the House agree.
As hospital systems and insurers adjust to the pandemic, their contract negotiations grow increasingly fraught. Contracts for in-network care are ending without a new deal, leaving patients suddenly with out-of-network bills or scrambling to find new in-network providers.
Many small hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units as births decline. For those who resist the trend, some studies suggest that hospitals with low deliveries are more likely to see complications for patients. Doctors and public health experts say there is no magic number to determine when it is best to close an obstetrics unit.
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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