These job-based programs can motivate employees to make some changes in behavior, research finds, but they don't seem to move the dial on workers' health status or employer spending on health care.
"Medicare for America" would stop short of a full-blown expansion of Medicare. It would include copays from patients and a role for insurers. Could it survive health care's politics?
The Senate Finance Committee will hear Tuesday from executives from the biggest pharmacy benefit managers. Confidential rebates paid to the PBMs are expected to draw scrutiny.
Surprise billing is one of the rare public policy issues that are both bipartisan and in need of a federal solution. A hearing on Capitol Hill looked to insurers and providers to help figure it out.
After a sports injury, Esteban Serrano owed $829.41 for a knee brace purchased with insurance through his doctor's office. The same kind of brace costs less than $250 online.
Some states have begun using Medicare reimbursement rates to recalibrate how they pay hospitals. If the gamble pays off, more private-sector employers could start doing the same thing.
Although federal law prohibits health insurance plans from discriminating against transgender individuals, a Georgia county specifically excludes trans-related health care from coverage.
Well-known insurers are selling new sorts of health plans outside the Affordable Care Act exchanges that may sound cheaper but aren't necessarily. Some, for example, charge extra for common surgeries.
Critics question claims by federal officials that CanaRX jeopardizes patient safety. Many U.S. companies, cities, counties and school districts rely on the firm to help employees get cheaper medicine.
Legislation introduced in Texas this week would force the state's health care providers and health insurers to mediate payment disputes before they send bills to patients.
An animal lover stopped to feed a hungry-looking stray cat outside Everglades National Park in Florida. The cat bit her finger; then treatment for a possible rabies infection bit her pocketbook.
While some officials urge expansion of the Medicare system, several states are mulling a different way to ensure residents have affordable coverage: help them buy into a Medicaid-like plan.
Independent brokers help employers choose health benefits for their staff but are paid by the health insurance industry, creating financial incentives to sell more without regard to cost.
The state now requires many of its Medicaid beneficiaries to work, go to school or volunteer in order to keep their health insurance. But more than 18,000 have come off the rolls.
Political fights over health care continue to flare. In Utah, angry voters say lawmakers are disregarding their wishes by trying to limit the scope of a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid.
In Texas many people have a right to mediation of medical bills. But the concept can be off-putting, and patients often think they need a lawyer, which isn't the case.
The idea, they say, would be to eliminate the health insurance industry and replace it with government-run health insurance. The industry is already gearing up to oppose any moves in that direction.
As hospital chains and insurers across the U.S squeeze one another, hoping to increase their market share, many patients are suddenly finding their preferred doctors and hospitals are out of network.
An air traffic controller is just one employee locked into the terms of a health plan because of the ongoing federal shutdown. It's meant his child's hospital bills are "out-of-network."
Congressional Democrats want to protect health coverage and protections of the Affordable Care Act. With the Senate in Republican hands, House Democrats will hold hearings and may turn to the courts.
Their former homeland was a U.S. testing site for nuclear bombs, but they can't get Medicare or Medicaid in Oklahoma. A resident of Enid, Okla., who was born in the islands is trying to change that.
Trump administration efforts to undo Obama-era health insurance rules have helped increase sales of limited health plans that cost consumers less than traditional coverage.
If the decision of a judge in Texas to invalidate the federal health law holds up, expect broad effects on your health care — from insurance coverage to Medicare payments to pre-existing conditions.
If implanted medical devices fail, patients and their insurers usually have to pay for repairs. That financial responsibility falls to them even when the problems were solely with the devices.
