Health Industry Archives - Page 50 of 201

Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’

Episode 307

July 27, 2023

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 51��Ƶ Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51��Ƶ Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.

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A photo of a truck pulling an RV trailer behind it driving on a highway.

Home Sweet Parking Lot: Some Hospitals Welcome RV Living for Patients, Families, and Workers

Medical and RV industry professionals say hospitals that offer RV parking are easing access to health care for some patients who drive long distances for treatment, like many rural residents.

By Christina Saint Louis

July 27, 2023

Covered California to Cut Patient Costs After Democratic Lawmakers Win Funding From Gov. 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.

By Angela Hart

July 27, 2023

A photo of a Lags Medical clinic with closed signed on its door.

Pain Clinic Chain to Pay $11.4M to Settle Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Claims

The owner of one of California’s largest chains of pain management clinics has agreed to pay California, Oregon, and the federal government to settle Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud allegations.

By Don Thompson

July 26, 2023

A photo of an advertisement inside of a subway station that reads, "988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Need to talk? The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free and confidential."

A Year With 988: What Worked? What Challenges Lie Ahead?

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, a national hotline, reached its first-year milestone this month.

By Colleen DeGuzman

July 26, 2023

Hospitals Ask Congress to Delay ACA Medicaid Funding Cuts — For the 14th Time

Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too. Hospital leaders say now is not a good time for the cuts — which lawmakers have so far postponed 13 times.

By Phil Galewitz

July 25, 2023

Navigating Aging

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.

By Judith Graham

July 25, 2023

51��Ƶ Health News On Air

Journalists Discuss Abortion Lawsuits and the Pros and Cons of Health Care Sharing Plans

51��Ƶ Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

July 22, 2023

A photo of a woman standing in a vacant hospital as seen through an empty ICU room.

Giant Health System Almost Saved a Community Hospital. Now, It Wants to ‘Extract Every Dollar.’

A bankruptcy judge will soon decide whether a Central Valley hospital needs to liquidate to repay its creditors. Its largest creditor, St. Agnes Medical Center, is the very entity that backed out of purchasing the Madera Community Hospital last December.

By Bernard J. Wolfson and Melissa Montalvo, The Fresno Bee

July 21, 2023

A woman in a red striped blouse and red skirt sits in an armchair in front coffee table, the surface of which is covered in mailing envelopes and papers.

Perspective

Medical Debt Is Making Americans Angry. Doctors and Hospitals Ignore This at Their Peril.

Doctors and hospitals hold an exalted position in American life, retaining public confidence even as other institutions such as government, law enforcement, and the media are losing people’s trust. But with health care debt out of hand, medical providers risk their good standing.

By Noam N. Levey

July 21, 2023

A photo of California's capitol building.

Industry Groups in California Vie for New Medicaid Money

State officials have promised to boost funding for California’s Medicaid program by $11.1 billion starting next year, with most of that money earmarked for higher payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers. But the details have yet to be worked out, and powerful health industry groups are jockeying for position.

By Angela Hart and Samantha Young

July 21, 2023

A photo of a commercial airplane seen from a window inside an airport.

Congress Considers Easing Regulations on Air Transport of Donated Organs

A little-noticed provision of sweeping legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration would make it easier to fly human organs from donor to recipient.

By Colleen DeGuzman

July 20, 2023

What the Health? From 51��Ƶ Health News

The Long Road to Reining In Short-Term Plans

Episode 305

July 13, 2023

President Biden made good on a campaign promise this week with a proposal that would limit short-term health insurance plans that boast low premiums but also few benefits. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action programs could set back efforts to diversify the nation’s medical workforce. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join 51��Ƶ Health News’ chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51��Ƶ Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported the latest 51��Ƶ Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” about how a hospital couldn’t track down a patient, but a debt collector could.

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A close up photograph of a pregnant woman's belly. There are orange tulips blurred in the foreground.

With More People Giving Birth at Home, Montana Passed a Pair of Laws to Make It Easier

The state now requires Medicaid to cover midwife services and has expanded the list of prescription drugs midwives can administer.

By Keely Larson

July 12, 2023

As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending

Nonprofit hospitals avoid paying taxes if they provide community benefits such as charity care. More states are examining that trade-off, scrutinizing the extent of hospitals’ spending on their communities.

By Andy Miller and Markian Hawryluk

July 11, 2023

A photo of a man standing on a wooden deck outside of a respite home.

Mental Health Respite Facilities Are Filling Care Gaps in Over a Dozen States

As three years of pandemic stress accelerated an ongoing nationwide mental health crisis, peer respite programs diverted patients from overburdened emergency rooms, psychiatric institutions, and behavioral therapists. Now, more “respites” are opening.

By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock

July 11, 2023

A photo of an older woman standing for a portrait outside by a fence.

When Medical Devices Malfunction

‘It Was a Bloodbath’: Rare Dialysis Complication Can Kill, and More Could Be Done To Stop It

A venous needle dislodgment is a rare dialysis complication that can kill a patient in minutes. Some experts worry those who treat themselves at home are at increased risk.

By Brett Kelman

July 7, 2023

A photo of a woman receiving an infusion at a medical clinic.

Patients Squeezed in Fight Over Who Gets to Bill for Pricey Infusion Drugs

To drive down costs, insurers are bypassing hospital system pharmacies and delivering high-priced infusion drugs, including some used in chemotherapy, via third-party pharmacies. Smarting from losing out on billing for those drugs, hospitals and clinics are trying to convince states to limit this practice, known as "white bagging."

By Samantha Liss

July 5, 2023

A digital illustration in bright copic marker and pencil shows a repetitive dollar-sign motif with two solid circles overlapping in the center of the image. Where they overlap, there is a binary-code pattern of zeroes and 1s, which represents information shared digitally. Two hands reach out of the digital space. The hand on the left holds a bag of over-the-counter products. The hand on the right holds a smartphone with an app open, showing sponsored advertisements for the same products in the bag to the left.

Need to Get Plan B or an HIV Test Online? Facebook May Know About It

Twelve of the largest drugstores in the U.S. sent shoppers’ sensitive health information to Facebook or other platforms, according to an investigation by The Markup and 51��Ƶ Health News.

By Darius Tahir and Simon Fondrie-Teitler, The Markup

June 30, 2023