Health Care Costs

Latest California Healthline Stories

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 2023 Is a Wrap

2023 was another busy year in health care. As the covid-19 pandemic waned, policymakers looked anew at long-standing obstacles to obtaining and paying for care in the nation’s health care system. Meanwhile, abortion has continued to be an issue in much of the nation, as states respond to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to the procedure. This week, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and wrap up the year in health. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Jordan Rau about his joint KFF Health News-New York Times series “Dying Broke.”

‘I Am Just Waiting to Die’: Social Security Clawbacks Drive Some Into Homelessness

The Social Security Administration is reclaiming billions of dollars in alleged overpayments from some of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable, leaving some people homeless or struggling to stay in housing, beneficiaries and advocates say.

Social Security Chief Apologizes to Congress for Misleading Testimony on Overpayments

Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi sent the letter days after KFF Health News and Cox Media Group reported that the agency has been demanding money back from more than twice as many people as she’d disclosed in October testimony.

An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)

Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills. But is this even an effective way for hospitals to recoup lost revenue? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with medical-debt experts to explore a different solution.

Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals

An award-winning project by KFF Health News and NPR found that at least 100 million people in the United States are saddled with medical bills they cannot pay — and exposed a health care system that systematically pushes people into debt.