Thousands get Covid in hospitals after admitted for something else
Consumer Corner November 6, 2021 0
More than 10,000 patients were diagnosed with Covid in a U.S. hospital last year after they were admitted for something else, according to federal and state records analyzed exclusively for KHN. The number is certainly an undercount, since it includes mostly patients 65 and older, plus California and Florida... Read more
How billing turned routine birth into high-cost case
Consumer Corner October 30, 2021 0
Caitlin Wells Salerno expected the bill for Gus’ birth to be heftier than that for her first child, Hank, which had cost the family a mere $30. She was a postdoctoral fellow in California with top-notch insurance when Hank was born, about four years earlier. They were braced to... Read more
‘My last diaper’: The anxiety of parenting in poverty
Consumer Corner October 23, 2021 1
or parents living in poverty, “diaper math” is a familiar and distressingly pressing daily calculation. Babies in the U.S. go through six to 10 disposable diapers a day, at an average cost of $70 to $80 a month. Name-brand diapers with high-end absorption sell for as much as a... Read more
Insurance focused on virtual visits? Pros and cons
Consumer Corner October 16, 2021 0
At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, people often relied on telemedicine for doctor visits. Now, insurers are betting that some patients liked it enough to embrace new types of health coverage that encourages video visits — or outright insists on them. Read more
Omicron’s impact on hospitals
Jan 17, 2022 0
Impact of a hospital closure
Jan 1, 2022 0
Georgia’s insurance waiver
Dec 22, 2021 0
A misguided plan for Medicare cuts
Commentary November 1, 2021 0