Fredric Blavin News Today

Medical debt has become a nationwide crisis, with 13% of U.S. adults impacted by past-due medical bills, according to data collected by the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., public policy

As more companies announce layoffs, the number of Americans dependent on a job for health care puts new spotlight on Medicare for All.

Millions of Americans are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of prescription drugs. A new survey by the Urban Institute found 13 million Americans delayed or skipped their medications due to the high costs.

Getting hospitals ready for the next pandemic The more hospitals cooperate, the better they’ll fare in an emergency Share this story As surges of COVID-19 cases spread throughout the United States over the past year, hospitals overwhelmed with patients quickly ran out of everything: masks, gloves, beds, space, doctors, nurses. Hospital workers in New York City, one of the first epicenters of the US pandemic, wore garbage bags as protective equipment. Patients in overcrowded California emergen...

Dive Brief: Hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act have benefited from declining uncompensated care costs and increased Medicaid revenue from 2013 to 2017, a cushion that could put them in a better position to financially recover from the COVID-19 pandemic compared with those in states that havent, a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs suggests. For hospitals in non-expansion states, uncompensated care costs rose during the same period, though Medicaid re...