Health Care

Medicare Improper Payments Fall to Lowest Level Since 2010

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Monday that the improper payment rate for traditional Medicare fell in fiscal year 2019 to 7.25%, down from 8.12% in fiscal year 2018 and...
The Startlingly High Cost Of The ‘Free’ Flu Shot

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

In the Byzantine world of health care pricing, most people wouldn’t expect that the ubiquitous flu shot could be a prime example of how the system’s lack of transparency can lead to disparate costs...
Trump Issues Rule to Force Hospitals to Reveal Negotiated Prices

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration on Friday released the final version of a rule forcing hospitals to publicly disclose the prices they negotiate privately with insurers or face fines. The rule, which would...
Warren Explains How She’d Transition to Medicare for All

By Michael Rainey

Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled on Friday a multi-year plan to transition to Medicare for All, outlining a series of immediate reforms on a path toward a universal, single-payer health care system. In...
Trump Wants to Get More Aggressive With His Drug-Pricing Proposal

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump wants to get more aggressive on lowering some Medicare drug prices. The Trump administration last year proposed using an index of international drug prices to set prices for certain...

‘Medicare for All’ Is a Loser at the Polls, Analysis Finds

By Yuval Rosenberg

Democratic House candidates who supported Medicare for All in the 2018 midterm elections fared considerably worse than those who did not back the plan, according to a new analysis by Alan I...
Verma Attacks Critics of Medicaid Work Requirement, Pushes for Tighter Eligibility

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, Tuesday sharply attacked critics of her plan to force some Medicaid enrollees to work, a policy that led to thousands of people losing...
Elizabeth Warren Says Americans Will Spend $11 Trillion on Health Care. Is That True?

By Michael Rainey

Elizabeth Warren says that Americans will spend “about $11 trillion on insurance premiums, copays, deductibles and uncovered medical expenses” over the next 10 years if the current health care system...
The Horrifying Number of Americans Who Can’t Afford Their Prescription Drugs

By Michael Rainey

An estimated 58 million Americans – nearly 23% of the population – couldn’t afford a drug they needed at some point in the last 12 months, according to a new Gallup-West Health poll published Tuesday...
Americans Want Lower Drug Prices, but Lawmakers Can’t Agree on a Fix

By Emmarie Huetteman, Kaiser Health News

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...

The Big Push for Medicare Advantage

By Michael Rainey

Medicare is shaping up as one of the most important issues in the 2020 election, with several leading Democrats offering proposals that would significantly expand the program. President Trump jumped...
‘Unsupported’ Price Hikes on Seven Drugs Cost $5.1 Billion Over Two Years: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

Drugmakers over the last two years raised prices on seven widely used medications above the rate of medical inflation and without any new clinical evidence to justify the increases, according to a...
Facing Potential Chaos, Trump Admin Will Delay Obamacare Changes if It Wins Lawsuit: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

The impending federal appeals court ruling in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act could present a conundrum to the Trump administration: A legal victory upholding a...
Pete Buttigieg Unveils Plan to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

By Yuval Rosenberg

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Monday rolled out a sweeping plan intended to lower prescription drug prices. Here are some key elements of the plan: Negotiating drug prices: Like...
1 in 4 Dollars in US Health Care Is Wasted: Analysis

By Michael Rainey

A new analysis published Monday in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association finds that about 25% of all U.S. health care spending goes to waste. The authors, Drs. William H. Shrank,...