Latest California Healthline Stories
Listen: How High-Deductible Plans Hurt Rural America
Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined Colorado Public Radio’s Avery Lill on “Colorado Matters” to discuss his recent story on how high-deductible health plans are especially hurting the financial health of patients and hospitals in rural America.
Warren y Klobuchar dicen que pueden bajar precios de medicamentos sin ayuda del Congreso
Ambas senadoras han patrocinado sus propios proyectos de ley para controlar el aumento vertiginoso de los precios de las drogas recetadas. El Congreso no ha hecho mucho por solucionar este problema.
Warren and Klobuchar Say They Can Lower Drug Prices Without Congress’ Help
Democratic presidential candidates also returned to now-familiar themes in debating the differences between “Medicare for All” and more incremental reforms.
Sanders Targets Health Industry Profits. Are His Figures Right?
Calculations are complicated, but correct.
Team Trump Says Administration’s Action On Health Care ‘Is Working.’ Is It?
The impact of the Trump administration’s health policies is not as clear-cut as the president’s reelection campaign suggests.
Loopholes Limit New California Law To Guard Against Lofty Air Ambulance Bills
A new state law limits what consumers owe if they’re transported by an air ambulance that’s not part of their insurance network to the amount that they’d be charged if they used an in-network provider. But the law won’t protect millions of consumers whose health plans aren’t regulated by the state.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
High-Deductible Plans Jeopardize Financial Health Of Patients And Rural Hospitals
Small hospitals and patients in rural areas have been hit hard by the boom in high-deductible health plans. Often when a patient arrives at a rural hospital needing critical care, the person is stabilized and transferred to a larger facility. But bills from the first site of care generally get applied to the patient’s deductible. When patients can’t afford their deductible, the smaller hospital winds up eating the costs.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Watch Your Back — And Your Wallet
Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, author of the book “Crooked,” says chronic low back pain is not a medical condition. Nonetheless, that complaint sends millions of Americans down a path of expensive imaging tests, ongoing therapies and invasive surgery — all with limited effectiveness for many patients. In a conversation with “An Arm and a Leg” podcast host Dan Weissmann, Ramin shares her journey of back pain and recovery.
Lower Health Care Costs By Helping The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints
Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.