52 million Americans could be affected by the latest healthcare tripwire purposefully set off by the Trump administration, which is declining to support certain mandates that include protections for pre-existing conditions. In 2016, a Kaiser Family Foundation study estimated that 27 percent of adult Americans […]
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra pledged Friday to redouble his efforts as the Affordable Care Act’s leading defender, saying attacks by the Trump Administration threaten health care for millions of Americans. Becerra’s pledge came in response to an announcement from the administration Thursday that it would […]
Nationwide, 83 of 2,375 rural hospitals have closed since 2010. These often-remote hospitals — some with 10, 15, 25 beds — have been targeted by management companies or potential buyers who promise much but often deliver little while lining their own pockets. Barbara Feder Ostrov, […]
In our top stories this week, we have a generic drug pricing scam, Germany beating the U.S. (and not in soccer) and a growing number of primary elections focused on candidates supporting Medicare for All. In a related article, doctor burnout because of uninsured patients […]
By delaying development of generics, drugmakers can maintain their monopolies and keep prices high. Most of the drugs cost Medicare Part D more in 2016 than they did in 2012, for an average spending increase of about 60 percent more per unit. This excludes drugs […]
The California Nurses Association union and Blue Shield of California each have contributed about $1 million to independent committees that support Newsom. The powerful nurses union strongly supports single-payer health care, while that model of health care delivery could pose an existential threat to insurer […]
For millions of Americans — blessed in some measure with good genes and good luck — dental insurance works pretty well, and they don’t think much about it. But people like me learn the hard way that dental insurance isn’t insurance at all — not […]
A group of doctors from the U.S. and Canada proposed this week pharmaceutical reforms that would slash costs, improve access and increase safety of prescription medications in both nations. The group, Physicians for a National Health Program, released the proposal, “Healing an ailing pharmaceutical system: […]
Four tiny screws. Surgery. And then the bill: The letter “put me in a panic,” said Young, who was suddenly worried that she would have to pay the entire $115,000 bill herself. That’s about how much her home is worth, and five times her annual income. […]