Category: Health Costs
Americans Overwhelmingly Want Federal Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
Three-quarters of the public, including a majority of Republicans, want the federal government to protect patients from being stuck with surprise medical bills.
State Laws Ban Surprise Medical Bills. She Got One for $227K And Fought Back.
“I wish I would have known. I would have said ‘no’ to life support,” said Debbie Moehnke, a former cocktail waitress. “We’ll lose everything.”
Americans Cross Border Into Mexico To Buy Insulin At A Fraction Of U.S. Cost
For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal?
Drug-Price Debate Targets Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Some insurers defend PBMs, arguing that blaming them for high drug prices is unfair when drug companies are free to set their prices as high as they want.
Bipartisan interest to curb surprise medical bills
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressing optimism about attacking a problem that has affected 57 percent of American adults,
States May Have to Face Off Against Feds to Control Drug Prices
The federal government has zealously guarded its authority over drug pricing.
Hospital Charge for Fainting Spell: $4,700
Total Bill: $4,692 for all the hospital care, including a $2,961 ER admission fee, a $400 EKG, $348 for a chest X-ray, and nearly $1,000 for blood tests.
Analysis: Pulling Back Curtain On Hospital Prices Adds New Wrinkle In Cost Control
For years, these prices have been a tightly guarded industrial secret. When pressed to release them, hospitals have argued that they are proprietary information.
Support grows for action on drug prices
Spurred on by midterm election results that showed health care to be a deciding issue, lawmakers are pushing a bevy of new proposals and approaches.
Prices vary wildly from hospital to hospital
The price of a liter of basic saline solution ranged from $56 to $383, nearly seven times as much. A brain MRI with contrast ranged from $3,200 to $8,800.
Patients turn to GoFundMe to pay bills
Medical fundraisers now account for 1 in 3 of the website’s campaigns, and they bring in more money than any other GoFundMe category.
GoFundMe CEO: ‘Gigantic Gaps’ In Health System Showing Up In Crowdfunding
“The system is terrible. It needs to be rethought and retooled. Politicians are failing us. Health care companies are failing us,” says CEO Rob Solomon.