Health Care Costs

Latest 蘑菇影院 Health News Stories

An Arm and a Leg: The Hack

Podcast

In this episode of 鈥淎n Arm and a Leg,鈥 host Dan Weissmann explores what the fallout from a cyberattack says about antitrust concerns in health care.

Whatever Happened to Biden鈥檚 Public Option?

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

In the 2020 elections, then-candidate Joe Biden and many of his congressional colleagues loudly advocated for a federal 鈥減ublic option鈥 health insurance plan. It was framed, at the time, as part of his incoming administration鈥檚 response to the pandemic. 鈥淟ow-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost to them, though […]

蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access

Podcast

A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 鈥 over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest 蘑菇影院 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.

Emergency Physicians Decry Surprise Air-Ambulance Bills

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

Emergency room doctors say insurers are increasingly declining to cover costly air-ambulance rides for critically ill patients, claiming they aren鈥檛 medically necessary. And the National Association of EMS Physicians says the No Surprises Act, enacted in 2022, is partly to blame. The law protects patients from many out-of-network medical bills by requiring insurers and providers […]