Latest California Healthline Stories
New Alzheimer’s Drug Raises Hopes — Along With Questions
Clinics serving Alzheimer’s patients are working out the details of who will get treated with the new drug Leqembi. It won’t be for everyone with memory-loss symptoms.
What One Lending Company’s Hospital Contracts Reveal About Financing Patient Debt
Within two years of North Carolina’s public university system going into business with AccessOne to finance patients’ payment plans, nearly half of its patients were in loans that charged interest. As federal scrutiny increases on lenders, California Healthline is sharing that contract and others obtained through public records requests.
The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer’s Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers
The annual cost of lecanemab treatment quadruples if the expense of brain scans to monitor for bleeds and other associated care is factored in. The full financial toll likely puts it beyond reach for low-income seniors at risk of Alzheimer’s, experts say.
Be Aware: Someone Could Steal Your Medical Records and Bill You for Their Care
Consumers should know that this type of fraud can happen, whether from a large-scale breach or theft of an individual’s data. The result could be thousands of dollars in medical bills.
His Anesthesia Provider Billed Medicare Late. He Got Sent to Collections for the $3,000 Tab.
Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But after the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner, it billed the patient instead.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’
President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.
Covered California to Cut Patient Costs After Democrats Win Funding From Newsom
California’s health insurance exchange will reduce how much some patients pay for care next year, including hospital deductibles, appointment copays, and prescription drugs. Lawmakers pressed Gov. Gavin Newsom to make good on a four-year-old pledge to use proceeds from a tax penalty on uninsured people to help people pay for treatment.
Los líderes legislativos habían presionado a Newsom, también demócrata, para que canalizara los ingresos fiscales hacia la reducción de los costos de la atención sanitaria.
New Weight Loss Drugs Carry High Price Tags and Lots of Questions for Seniors
Although nearly 40% of Americans 60 and older are obese, Medicare doesn’t cover weight loss medications. Meanwhile, studies haven’t thoroughly examined new drugs’ impact on older adults.
Everything Old Is New Again? The Latest Round of Health Policy Proposals Reprises Existing Ideas
House Republican legislation promises more health insurance options but fewer protections, even as the Biden administration seeks to rein in short-term plans, which were expanded in the Trump era.