Healthcare Costs Archives - Page 8 of 94 - ��ýҕ�l Health News

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA

Episode 423

Nov. 20, 2025

Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the CDC altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy.

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A photo showing Mehmet Oz sitting at a table in a court room.

Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.

Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by ��ýҕ�l Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health providers are so skimpy they violate legal requirements.

By Susan Jaffe

Nov. 20, 2025

A photo of a woman standing in a meadow in autumn. The foliage around her is turning orange and yellow.

Deadly Denials

Ticked Off Over Preauthorization: Walk-In Patient Avoided Lyme Disease but Not a Surprise Bill

A Maine woman sought care at a clinic for a tick bite, then paid full price after her insurer denied coverage. Its reason? She didn't have preapproval for the walk-in visit, even though testing later detected the pathogen that causes Lyme disease.

By Lauren Sausser

Nov. 18, 2025

A close-up photograph of Marty Makary speaking into a microphone at a podium.

FDA’s Plan To Boost Biosimilar Drugs Could Stall at the Patent Office

Drug industry officials and analysts praised the FDA’s plans to streamline regulation of “biosimilars,” which are cheaper alternatives to biologic drugs. But patents that block such drugs from the U.S. market are getting harder to fight.

By Arthur Allen

Nov. 17, 2025

��ýҕ�l Health News On Air

Journalists Untangle Issues of Health Care Costs and Food Benefits

��ýҕ�l Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Nov. 15, 2025

A photo of a hand holding an opened pill bottle.

Listen: New Federal Guidelines Could Weaken Consumer Protections Against Medical Debt

The Trump administration has taken another step to weaken protections for Americans with medical debt, issuing rules that undercut state efforts to keep these debts off consumers’ credit reports.

By Noam N. Levey

Nov. 14, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

The Government Is Open

Episode 422

Nov. 13, 2025

The record-long federal shutdown is over after a small group of Democrats agreed to a deal with most Republicans that funds the government through January — but, notably, does not extend more generous Affordable Care Act tax credits. Plus, new details are emerging about how the Trump administration is using the Medicaid program to advance its policy goals. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Appleby, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.

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Letters to the Editor

Readers Take Congress to Task and Offer Their Own Health Policy Fixes

��ýҕ�l Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Nov. 12, 2025

An Arm and a Leg

A Few Good Things From 2025 (Really)

Season 14, Episode 4

Nov. 12, 2025

Good news for health care access this year includes new state laws to rein in prior authorization and medical debt collectors.

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A woman stands beside a ballot box, smiling.

Health Care Costs Jump to the Fore as Candidates Jockey To Be California Governor

During a California gubernatorial debate, candidates promised to protect people’s access to health care and fight back against Trump administration cuts. With the contest a year away, polling shows voters want the next governor to minimize out-of-pocket health care costs, increase mental health care, and expand caregiving services.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Nov. 10, 2025

An illustration shows two businessmen shaking hands. Each stands on an arrow pointing upward, meeting in the middle.

As Health Companies Get Bigger, So Do the Bills. It’s Unclear if Trump’s Team Will Intervene.

As health systems, doctor groups, and insurers merge into ever-bigger giants, patient care gets more expensive. Yet the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about its willingness to intervene — and shown some disdain for Biden officials’ more aggressive approach.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

Nov. 10, 2025

Shutdown Has Highlighted Washington’s Retreat From Big Ideas on Health Care

As voters feel financial pressure from runaway health care costs and crave innovations that would provide relief, the standoff in Congress has been firmly rooted in the status quo — keeping an existing provision of the Affordable Care Act alive.

By Stephanie Armour

Nov. 10, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

The State of the Affordable Care Act

Episode 421

Nov. 6, 2025

Nov. 1 marked the start of open enrollment for 2026 health plans bought from Affordable Care Act marketplaces in most states. But this sign-up season is like no other in the health law’s 15-year history. It remains unclear, even at this late date, whether expanded tax credits launched during the pandemic in 2021 will be continued or allowed to expire, exposing millions of Americans to much higher out-of-pocket costs. In this special episode of “What the Health?” from ��ýҕ�l Health News and WAMU, host Julie Rovner interviews KFF vice president Cynthia Cox about the past, present, and possible future of the health law and how those who purchase ACA coverage should proceed during this time of uncertainty.

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A photo of a man at an orchard picking persimmons from a tree.

Farmers, Barbers, and GOP Lawmakers Grapple With the Fate of ACA Tax Credits

Small-business owners and their employees, who make up nearly half of the Obamacare marketplace, are worried about their health care and their livelihoods as insurance prices surge. Republicans, who have long opposed Obamacare, are at odds over how to respond to upset from one of their party’s most loyal constituencies.

By Amanda Seitz

Nov. 6, 2025

An Arm and a Leg

This Health Economist Wants Your Medical Bills

Season 14, Episode 3

Nov. 5, 2025

A longtime health economist sets her sights on lowering Americans’ insurance premiums.

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A photo of HealthCare.gov's website. A pop-up form reads, "Get covered for 2026. Start here."

Congressional Stalemate Creates Chaos for Obamacare Shoppers

This year, Affordable Care Act marketplace consumers will need to be more informed than ever to navigate their health coverage choices.

By Michelle Andrews

Nov. 4, 2025

A sign is carved at the entrance to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building. It reads, "Department of Health and Human Services."

Trump’s HHS Orders State Medicaid Programs To Help Find Undocumented Immigrants

Federal health authorities have taken the "unprecedented" step of instructing states to investigate certain individuals on Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they’ve received more than 170,000 names collectively.

By Phil Galewitz

Nov. 3, 2025

��ýҕ�l Health News On Air

Journalists Help Make Sense of Government Shutdown and Obamacare Open Enrollment

��ýҕ�l Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Nov. 1, 2025

A man sorts through a food delivery at a food bank

The Nation’s Largest Food Aid Program Is About To See Cuts. Here’s What You Should Know.

The federal government is making sweeping changes to SNAP, the program that helped feed about 42 million people in the U.S. last year. Here’s a breakdown of the changes to come and potential impacts.

By Katheryn Houghton, Samantha Liss, and Renuka Rayasam

Oct. 31, 2025