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As vaccination rates rise across the state, the overall numbers of covid cases and deaths have plunged. But health officials are still reporting nearly 1,000 new cases and more than two dozen deaths a day. So, where does covid continue to simmer in California? And why?
Veteran health journalist Marshall Allen has been exposing health care grifters for years. Now heâs written a book about how to fight them. Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Allen about some of the best tips from âNever Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.â
The Biden administration is moving to undo many of the changes the Trump administration made to the enrollment process for the Affordable Care Act to encourage more people to sign up for health insurance. Meanwhile, Congress is opening investigations into the controversial approval by the Food and Drug Administration of an expensive drug that might (or might not) slow the progression of Alzheimerâs disease. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Insider and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Marshall Allen of ProPublica about his new book, âNever Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.â
Long before covid, music therapists used singing and wind instruments to help COPD and asthma patients. These same therapies might help patients recover from covidâs lingering symptoms as well. And though it wasnât clinical music therapy, singing with an online choir has helped me navigate long covid.
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage â through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a âpublic option.â But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last monthâs KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ episode about a very expensive sleep study.
In Texasâ border communities, which are overwhelmingly Hispanic, covid-19 death rates for people under age 65 were double those in the rest of the state and three times the national average. They were also significantly higher than rates in New Mexico border areas.
Eager to control costs, health systems and insurers are trying to address patientsâ social needs such as food insecurity, transportation and housing. Yet, after years of testing, thereâs slim evidence these efforts pay off.
In a surprisingly strong 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court turned back the latest constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, likely heralding the end of GOP efforts to strike the law in its entirety through court action. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are looking for ways to expand health benefits. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Andy Slavitt, who recently stepped down from the Biden administrationâs covid response team, about his new book on the pandemic.
More than 80 million Americans with low incomes were receiving health coverage through the federal-state program in January. The program now covers nearly 1 in 4 people nationwide.
Federal officials say that some of the money changing hands has corrupted doctors and endangered patients.
Health care insiders get surprise medical bills, too. One of them shares tips for writing an insurance appeal.
HCA charges patients an âactivation feeâ of up to $50,000 for trauma teams at centers located in half its 179 hospitals â and they often donât need trauma care, an analysis of insurance claims data shows.
The federal approval of a controversial drug to treat Alzheimerâs disease has reignited the debate over drug prices and the way the Food and Drug Administration makes decisions. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden seeks to gain goodwill overseas as he announces the U.S. will provide 500 million doses of covid vaccine to international health efforts. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And to mark the podcastâs 200th episode, the panelists discuss what has surprised them most and least over the past four years.
Two medical schools vie to open in Montana, highlighting the rapid spread of for-profit schools and their previously tarnished business model.
Racial and ethnic categories for vaccination data vary widely from one state to another, complicating efforts to distribute shots where they are needed most. In Missouri, some red flags in the data surfaced, making health officials question its usefulness.
Republicans, Democrats and the public at large agree that prices for prescription drugs are too high. But no one seems to know how to fix it. Vanderbilt University drug price researcher Stacie Dusetzina explains the basics of why drugs cost so much and why itâs hard to do something about it. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss the prospects for policy changes.
Check out KHNâs video series â Behind The Byline: How the Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insiderâs view of health care coverage that does not quit.
Nursing home chain ReNew Health continues to care for hundreds of patients even after the state attempted to crack down. Before and during the pandemic, homes connected to ReNew had safety violations.
The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won't be easy.
Lawmakers are working on fleshing out the concept of a âpublic option,â a government-run or heavily regulated insurance plan that would compete with private insurance. But the details are complicated, both substantively and politically. Meanwhile, bioethicists are debating whether the U.S. should be vaccinating low-risk adolescents against covid-19 while high-risk adults in other countries are still waiting. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
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