HHS has issued an interim final rule that bans surprise bills for patients who receive care from out-of-network providers at in-network hospitals. The rule applies to both emergency and non-emergency...
Diane Archer
Don’t trust a hospital’s advertisements
Most people do not realize how important it is to take time choosing a hospital; sadly, good information about quality and safety is hard to come by, and rankings tend to be misleading. Hospitals...
Voters support improving and expanding Medicare
There’s a huge gap between people who can access healthcare and people who cannot, be they uninsured or insured, though functionally uninsured, because of exorbitant out-of-pocket costs. People...
Government drug price-setting could save millions of lives and...
In an opinion piece for Stat, James Glassman, a former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, overlooks the fact that proposals to base drug prices in the US on the prices other wealthy...
Kaiser Permanente sued for misleading people about their network...
The city of San Diego, California is suing Centene, Kaiser Permanente and Molina, three large corporate health plans, for false advertising about the health care providers in their networks reports...
Federal government cannot ensure hospital safety or quality...
If you think that it’s the federal government’s responsibility to ensure patient safety and quality in hospitals, Medicare for all would help. Right now, private accreditation agencies and states...
Coronavirus: Life expectancy drops significantly for Blacks and...
Health equity issues run deep in the US. And, the huge drop in life expectancy for Blacks and Hispanics since the pandemic underscores these inequities. Kaiser Health News reports on the significant...
Senator Wyden sets forth principles for drug price reform
Jonathan Cohn reports for The Huffington Post that Senate Finance Committee Chair, Ron Wyden, just announced his principles for drug price reform. They should appeal to both progressive and...
Should health insurers help patients with travel costs?
Access to health care is a surprisingly small determinant of people’s health. Education, housing, food and transportation contribute significantly more to people’s well-being. So, health...
Drug ads drive up drug spending
A new Government Accountability Office analysis suggests that pharmaceutical companies benefit handsomely from advertising brand-name drugs on television and in other media. People look at the loving...