Health Insurance

Anthem Blue Cross of California, one of the state's largest health insurers, is battling Sutter Health over how much it should pay the company's 24 hospitals and 5,000 doctors in Northern California to care for tens of thousands of patients.

Patients Suffer As Insurers And Big Health Systems Spar For Market Share

12:46pm January 30, 2019

by Barbara Feder Ostrov

As hospital chains and insurers across the U.S squeeze one another, hoping to increase their market share, many patients are suddenly finding their preferred doctors and hospitals are out of network.

Demonstrators affiliated with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association protested the federal shutdown at a Capitol Hill rally earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

Federal Shutdown Has Meant Steep Health Bills For Some Families

3:15pm January 18, 2019

by Julie Appleby

An air traffic controller is just one employee locked into the terms of a health plan because of the ongoing federal shutdown. It's meant his child's hospital bills are "out-of-network."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a speech Thursday to the new Congress that Democrats want "to lower health care costs and prescription drug prices and protect people with pre-existing medical conditions."

Democrats' Health Care Ambitions Meet The Reality Of Divided Government

5:03pm January 09, 2019

by Alison Kodjak

Congressional Democrats want to protect health coverage and protections of the Affordable Care Act. With the Senate in Republican hands, House Democrats will hold hearings and may turn to the courts.

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Robert and Tiffany Cano of San Tan Valley, Ariz., have a new marriage, a new house and a 10-month-old son, Brody. Since Brody was born, the Canos have racked up nearly $12,000 in medical debt.

Health & Safety

Insured, But Indebted: Couple Works 5 Jobs To Pay Off Medical Bills

2:24pm December 26, 2018

by JoNel Aleccia

Even after buying employer-provided health insurance, an Arizona couple incurred a mountain of medical debt since a new baby was born.

Terry Mote (right) visits the home of Stanley and Lorit Jamor in Enid, Okla. Stanley was born on Bikini atoll, and is a descendant of Chief Juda, who was told in 1946 by Commodore Ben H. Wyatt, of the U.S. Navy, to give up the island homeland "for the goo

A Policy Knot Leaves Oklahomans From Marshall Islands Struggling To Get Health Care

4:58am December 25, 2018

Their former homeland was a U.S. testing site for nuclear bombs, but they can't get Medicare or Medicaid in Oklahoma. A resident of Enid, Okla., who was born in the islands is trying to change that.

Selling short-term health plan is lucrative for brokers and insurers.

Health & Safety

Short-Term Health Plans Boost Profits For Brokers And Insurers

2:52pm December 21, 2018

by Julie Appleby

Trump administration efforts to undo Obama-era health insurance rules have helped increase sales of limited health plans that cost consumers less than traditional coverage.

Philadelphia demonstrators protested earlier moves by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act last February. If the ACA is indeed axed as unconstitutional, health policy analysts say, millions of people could lose health coverage, and many aspects o

5 Ways Nixing The Affordable Care Act Could Upend U.S. Health System

5:39pm December 20, 2018

by Julie Rovner

If the decision of a judge in Texas to invalidate the federal health law holds up, expect broad effects on your health care — from insurance coverage to Medicare payments to pre-existing conditions.

Sarah Witter fractured two bones in her lower left leg while skiing in Vermont last February. She had two operations to repair the damage. The second surgery was needed to replace a metal plate that broke after it was implanted.

Health & Safety

Bill Of The Month: $43,208 For Repeat Surgery To Replace Broken Medical Device

6:42pm December 18, 2018

by Jordan Rau

If implanted medical devices fail, patients and their insurers usually have to pay for repairs. That financial responsibility falls to them even when the problems were solely with the devices.

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Health & Safety

Texas Judge Rules Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional, But Supporters Vow To Appeal

11:31pm December 14, 2018

by Julie Rovner

A ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional is likely to go to the Supreme Court. For now, the decision likely won't affect people who buy insurance on marketplaces created by the law.

People who earn up to 400 percent of the poverty level (about $48,500 for an individual and $100,400 for a family of four in 2019) are eligible for subsidies of the cost of their marketplace health plans. But many of the 5 million who aren't eligible feel

Health Costs Bear Down On Families Who Don't Qualify For ACA Subsidies

10:18am December 14, 2018

by Steve Findlay

Rising costs have driven millions who don't get a subsidy for their Affordable Care Act health plan to drop the coverage or turn to cheaper, less comprehensive — and sometimes inadequate — insurance.