Latest California Healthline Stories
The $109K Heart Attack Bill Is Down To $332. What About Other Surprise Bills?
“I don’t feel any consumer should have to go through this,” says Drew Calver, who faced a life-changing surprise bill from an Austin hospital after a heart attack last year. After attention as a “Bill of the Month” patient, he paid the hospital $332. But he worries about other patients with surprise bills.
Watch: What Happened To That $109,000 Heart Attack
The story of a Texas teacher who faced a surprise “balance bill” of almost twice his annual salary gets a surprise happy ending.
¡Puñalada! Tienes seguro, pero igual debes pagar $109 mil por un ataque al corazón
Un maestro de Austin, Texas, quien sufrió un ataque cardíaco, tuvo que vivir una odisea cuando recibió una cuenta astronómica.
A Jolt To The Jugular! You’re Insured But Still Owe $109K For Your Heart Attack
A Texas teacher, 44, faces a “balance bill” of almost twice his annual salary for a heart attack he never expected to have.
A Transgender Woman’s Quest For Surgery Caught In Political Crosswinds
Dramatic policy swings, from an unprecedented expansion of transgender rights under the Obama administration to the unpredictable reduction of trans rights under President Donald Trump, have left many trans Americans feeling the whiplash.
A Transgender Woman’s ‘Bait-And-Switch’ $92,000 Surgery Bill
After being promised a significant discount for paying cash upfront and forgoing insurance, a Wisconsin patient gets caught in the middle between hospital and insurer — and feels snookered by a last-minute surprise and billing snafu.
Father’s And Son’s Injuries Lead To The Mother Of All Therapy Bills
A father and son suffered serious hand injuries nine days apart. They both needed surgery and lots of follow-up occupational therapy to rehab their hands. But insurance paid for just a fraction of those OT bills, and the family owed more than $8,500.
Sticker Shock Jolts Oklahoma Patient: $15,076 For Four Tiny Screws
A woman with foot pain was floored by the high cost of titanium screws used in her surgery. “Unless the metal [was] mined on an asteroid, I do not know why it should cost that amount,” she says.
A Tale Of Two CT Scanners — One Richer, One Poorer
Why is the price of a CT scan 33 times higher in an hospital emergency room than in an outpatient imaging center just down the street?
Bill Of The Month: For Toenail Fungus, A $1,500 Prescription
How a prescription wiped out one woman’s health reimbursement account, raising questions about prescription drug price tags and about how health care professionals deal (or don’t) with medical costs.