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Air ambulance service may lead to surprise bills for many patients

When an emergency dispatcher calls for a helicopter or plane to fly a critically ill patient to a hospital, they don't have time to check whether they take the patient's insurance.

5 May 2020

Lawmaker pushing mental health reform: It’s ‘more needed than ever’

During the first week of school closures in San Jose, state Sen. Jim Beall's office received more than a dozen phone calls from distressed parents and caregivers.

28 Apr 2020

Millennial zeitgeist: Attitudes about COVID-19 shift as cases among young adults rise

When Laura Mae, 27, first heard about the coronavirus, it didn't seem like a big deal.

10 Apr 2020

Hoping that insurance expansion will help tamp outbreak, 9 states reopen marketplaces

At least nine states are offering their uninsured residents another opportunity to sign up for a health plan this year as they seek new ways to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.

21 Mar 2020

A fierce national debate over the implementation of Affordable Care Act

The fierce national debate over health care reform includes deep divisions over the appropriate roles of the federal and state governments. For example, while Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calls for expanding the federal Medicare program to cover all Americans, the Trump administration pushes for the states to have far greater authority.

3 Mar 2020

Surge in enrollment as Californians avoid penalty, receive state aid

Hundreds of thousands of new enrollees signed up for 2020 coverage through Covered California, driven by new carrot-and-stick state policies that provide financial aid to help some people afford their premiums while penalizing those who don't have coverage, state health officials announced Tuesday.

18 Feb 2020

Would ‘Medicare for All’ cost more than U.S. budget? Biden says so. Math says no.

During the Feb. 7 Democratic presidential debate, former Vice President Joe Biden once again questioned the price tag of "Medicare for All," the single-payer health care proposal championed by one of his key rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

14 Feb 2020

5 things to know about Trump’s Medicaid block grant plan

The Trump administration unveiled a plan Thursday that would dramatically revamp Medicaid by allowing states to opt out of part of the current federal funding program and instead seek a fixed payment each year in exchange for gaining unprecedented flexibility over the program.

31 Jan 2020

Trump’s latest health care challenge: Gaining voters’ trust

Far more Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump's handling of several high-profile health care issues than give him positive marks, underscoring the challenge the president faces in claiming health care as a political asset in his reelection bid.

30 Jan 2020

An attack ad that claims Michigan Sen. Gary Peters supports ‘Medicare for All’ doesn’t hold up

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who is running for a second term as Michigan's junior senator, is the subject of an attack ad that takes issue with his position on "Medicare for All."

28 Jan 2020

Burden of health care payments greatest among households with lowest incomes

Higher income American households pay the most to finance the nation's health care system, but the burden of payments as a share of income is greatest among households with the lowest incomes, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

27 Jan 2020

Decline in advanced stage cancer diagnoses following health insurance expansion

Advanced stage cancer diagnoses declined following health insurance expansion in Massachusetts, likely due to increased access to screening and diagnostic services that identified cancers earlier, according to new research led by health economists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

22 Jan 2020

Democrats press high court to make call on ACA. How it could play out at polls.

You're forgiven if in the holiday rush you missed the news last month that a federal appeals court in New Orleans once again put the future of the Affordable Care Act in doubt and ordered a lower court to review its fate.

8 Jan 2020

San Francisco hopes to improve care for people with mental illness living on streets

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has promised to tackle her city's homelessness crisis, a vexing situation involving drug abuse and mental illness that is compounded by the city's high housing costs.

13 Dec 2019

Candidates are betting big on health. Is that what voters really want?

The one thing we know about health care in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race is that it's a top issue for voters.

3 Dec 2019

Did Joe Biden overstate democratic voters’ opposition to ‘Medicare for All’?

When the subject of "Medicare for All" came up during the Democratic debate last week, former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that the majority of his party does not favor it.

26 Nov 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The health care campaign

Health care continues to be a top issue for Democratic and Democratic-leaning primary voters, according to recent polls. But the presidential candidates are so busy picking at the details of their opponents' plans, it's unclear whether voters are becoming educated or more confused.

21 Nov 2019

In this Democratic debate, health care issues took a backseat

Marijuana decriminalization. Paid family leave. And, yes, "Medicare for All."

21 Nov 2019

Warren says out-of-pocket health spending will total $11 trillion in the next decade. We checked her math.

Promoting her much-discussed plan to create a single-payer "Medicare for All" health system, Sen. Elizabeth Warren emphasized a striking figure.

12 Nov 2019

Voters say Congress needs to curb drug prices, but are lawmakers listening?

House Democrats are poised to pass sweeping legislation to lower drug prices using strategies President Donald Trump has endorsed. A Trump aide urged the Republican-controlled Senate to vote on a different package curbing drug prices that was drafted by a senior Republican.

11 Nov 2019