Latest California Healthline Stories
Readers and Tweeters Chime In on Disability Rights and Drug Discounts
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Medicaid Machinations
The lame-duck Congress has returned to Washington with a long health care to-do list and only a little time. Meanwhile, some of the states that have not yet expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act are rethinking those decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Fred Clasen-Kelly, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a mysterious mishap during minor surgery.
An Unexplained Injury Discovered After Eye Surgery. What Should Happen Next?
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, an expert says. Here’s how patients can respond.
Readers and Tweeters Decry Medical Billing Errors, Price-Gouging, and Barriers to Benefits
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Readers and Tweeters Take Positions on Sleep Apnea Treatment
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It’s sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals — which may pay nearly as little for the drug — charging so much more to administer it?
A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husband’s ER Bill
A medical billing specialist investigated her husband’s ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospital’s charges — and provides a playbook for other consumers.
Listen: Grieving Families Face the Cruelest Bills
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber talks with NPR’s “Consider This” podcast about her reporting on families confronted with medical bills while grieving the loss of a baby who received expensive hospital care.
Readers and Tweeters Take a Close Look at Eye Care and White Mulberry Leaf
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Turned Away From Urgent Care — And Toward a Big ER Bill
Russell Cook was expecting a quick and inexpensive visit to an urgent care center for his daughter, Frankie, after she had a car wreck. Instead, they were advised to go to an emergency room and got a much larger bill.