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Early in the pandemic, insurers expected the costs of treating COVID-19 would vastly increase medical spending. Instead, non-COVID care has plummeted and insurers have pocketed the result. Still, few industry observers are predicting broad-based premium cuts in 2021, though some health plans have proposed lowering their rates.
Around the country, Medicaid enrollment is up as people who have lost jobs during the pandemic seek health insurance. Expanding eligibility for Missouri鈥檚 program, which could help thousands of recently unemployed residents, will be on the ballot Tuesday.
Will Lightbourne, the new director of the California Department of Health Care Services, says government must address the racial disparities laid bare by COVID-19 and improve care for the state鈥檚 most vulnerable residents.
For the first time since 2017, Medicaid enrollment has begun increasing again, but not by as much as many analysts expected.
Health plan network changes occur all the time as doctors retire, relocate or leave networks. Unfortunately, patients may be the last to find out about such changes because there are often few requirements that either providers or insurers inform them.
There鈥檚 a theory now being embraced by President Donald Trump that the Supreme Court鈥檚 recent DACA decision makes it harder for a new president to undo the executive action of a predecessor. He cited it in a recent interview, saying that finding gave him the power to issue new health care and immigration plans. And some legal scholars disagree.
State officials had projected that 2 million Californians would join Medi-Cal, the state鈥檚 health insurance program for low-income people, by July because of the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19. Yet enrollment has barely budged, and why is unclear.
With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare鈥檚 trust fund intact.
Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won鈥檛 start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.
Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.
KHN's Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don't have to.
This appears to be an overstatement.
The speech by the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee was delivered the same day the Trump administration reaffirmed its support of a lawsuit that would invalidate all of the Affordable Care Act, including the law's preexisting condition protections.
Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills 鈥 because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.
The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor鈥檚 office.
Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn鈥檛 get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus 鈥 which is hard when you live with elders.
Jane Collins and Anthony Blow were stunned to learn last fall that their state tax refund was being reduced by $110 because the Charlottesville medical center said they owed money for care their son received in 2001 and 2002.
But some of those options, like special enrollment periods, are time-sensitive.
As doctors look for alternative ways to charge patients for care, some Medicare enrollees may lose access to their physicians.
After some protests over the death of George Floyd resulted in violence, online discussions raised concerns that health plans might deny medical coverage. Although plans do sometimes make exclusions for 鈥渋llegal acts鈥 or riots, experts say concerns by people who are protesting Floyd鈥檚 death may be overstated.
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