Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
Snippets of news & commentary with a special focus on
health policy, Medicare for All & California
Like Weekly News Roundup? Then you’ll love our popular podcast Code WACK! where we shine a light on the outrageous hassles patients face when dealing with America’s callous healthcare system. Subscribe below!
“Big Pharma is more focused on Wall Street games to enrich executives and shareholders than making medicines.”
Cheaper Drug Prices in US Is About Political Will, Not Economics or Market Forces
Common Dreams | Lynn Parramore | March 18, 2024
“…many states fail to warn people who sign up for Medicaid that big bills and claims to their property might await their families once they die.”
State Medicaid Offices Target Dead People’s Homes to Recoup Their Health Care Costs
Associated Press | Amanda Seitz | March 17, 2024
“Rural emergency hospitals receive more than $3 million in federal funding a year and higher Medicare reimbursements in exchange for closing all inpatient beds and providing 24/7 emergency care.”
A New Kind of Hospital Is Coming to Rural America. To Qualify, Facilities Must Close Their Beds
Associated Press | Devna Bose | March 16, 2024
“Through gaming the system of capitated payments, MA insurance companies have reaped billions in overpayments — which have also increased the amount all Medicare beneficiaries pay in Part B premiums.”
Medicare Advantage Myth-Busting
Common Dreams | Kelsey Moore | March, 14 2024
“…a bipartisan group of six U.S. Senators will unveil a bill aimed at helping millions of Americans trapped in a special kind of health insurance hell. These people, who are among the country’s sickest and poorest patients, are covered by two government health insurance programs — Medicare and Medicaid — yet still struggle to get the care they need.”
Vulnerable Americans Are Stuck in a Medicare-Medicaid Maze. Is a Fix in Sight?
NPR | Leslie Walker, Dan Gorenstein | March 14, 2024
“The results of this study spotlight the invisible insecurity of insured Americans as health insurance alone no longer guarantees access to care.”
New Study Reveals 40% of Workplace-Insured Americans Delay Care Due to Cost, Adversely Impacting Workplace Culture and Productivity
Healthcare Dive | Press Release | March 14, 2024
“We’re only halfway through the largest ever Medicaid purge, and medical debt is now the biggest source of bankruptcy.”
16 Million Americans Have Lost Health Care Coverage Since March 2023
Truthout | Liz Theoharis | March 11, 2024
“[President Biden’s] FY 2025 budget builds on the Inflation Reduction Act and lowers the cost of prescription drugs for even more Americans, including the 189 million Americans under age 65 with private insurance coverage….”
Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Urges Congress to Lower Drug Costs for Americans with Commercial Insurance
HHS | Press Release | March 11, 2024
For more health policy, check out our mini-podcast Code WACK!
Is ‘Fetal Personhood’ Coming to Your State?
Featuring Vina Smith-Ramakrishnan,
Fellow, The Century Foundation
Where are we today when it comes to reproductive rights in America? And what does the latest IVF case in Alabama mean for reproductive justice and healthcare equity in America?
Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!
Code WACK! is featured on Progressive Voices & NurseTalk Media. Find us on Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform!
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Shining a light on ongoing inequities in health care
and the impact they have on vulnerable individuals and communities.
Our podcast Code WACK! brings to life the failures of America’s healthcare system with stories, commentary and analysis.
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