Latest California Healthline Stories
When Medicine Makes Patients Sicker
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to inspect all factories, foreign and domestic, that produce drugs for the U.S. market. But a KHN review of thousands of FDA documents — inspection records, recalls, warning letters and lawsuits — reveals how drugs that are poorly manufactured or contaminated can reach consumers.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
As Hospitals Post Sticker Prices Online, Most Patients Will Remain Befuddled
The new rule took effect Jan. 1 but, for consumers seeking hospital price information, using it to find answers may be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Ask Us Anything!
From Medicare dental coverage to drug prices to fetal tissue research, the panelists answer listeners’ questions. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner.
For The Asking, A Check Is In The Mail To Help Pay For Costly Drugs
It’s a little-known secret that patients can get thousands of dollars directly from a drugmaker.
Massachusetts Stroke Patient Receives ‘Outrageous’ $474,725 Medical Flight Bill
After a 34-year-old woman suffered a stroke in Kansas, doctors there arranged for her to be transferred to a Boston hospital, via an Angel MedFlight Learjet. The woman and her father believed the cost of the medical flight would be covered by her private insurance. Then they got the bill.
Refund On The Way To Latest ‘Bill Of The Month’ Patient
Ski buff Sarah Witter will get $6,358.26 back from her hospital and insurer after a careful review of her bill following the KHN-NPR story on her case.
Year One Of KHN’s ‘Bill Of The Month’: A Kaleidoscope Of Financial Challenges
A crowdsourced investigation in which we dissect, investigate and explain medical bills you send us.
Covered California Pops And Locks Through Enrollment Season
The state health insurance exchange hired hip-hop dancers in communities across the state as part of its promotion of open enrollment, which ends Jan. 15.
Coverage Denied: Medicaid Patients Suffer As Layers Of Private Companies Profit
Managed-care plans, which reap billions in taxpayer dollars to coordinate care for low-income Americans on Medicaid, outsource crucial treatment decisions to subcontractors that aren’t directly accountable to the government. In California, health officials say one firm improperly withheld or delayed care for hundreds of people.