This column explores how health reform is changing the ways in which we pay for and deliver health care in the U.S. It also highlights the ways in which our current system is falling short on measures of coverage, access and affordability. On any given week, that could mean a look at how Republican plans to repeal Obamacare could reshape the individual insurance market, how the safety net system is adapting to new financial pressures, or how the trend of doctors and hospitals merging into ever-larger entities is driving up costs. We also explore health care costs and whether the Affordable Care Act or its successor plans can live up to the promise to rein them in. Throughout, we keep watch on how the goals of health reform intersect with the shaping power of markets and human behavior. Contributors include veteran health journalist Trudy Lieberman and independent health journalist Kellie Schmitt, with occasional contributions from independent journalists such as Susan Abram and Sara Stewart.
A new study finds that patients at in-network hospitals received "surprise" bills from out-of-network doctors 22% of the time. In this Q&A, author Zack Cooper explains the study and what might be done to stop such surprises.
Trump's election victory has spurred new fears of changes to Medicare. But the move to privatize Medicare has been underway for decades, with Medicare Advantage representing the movement's most recent guise.
Rewarding physicians and hospitals for the value of care can dramatically improve care quality and lower costs. So why has the transition to this new model of care been so slow?
The editor-in-chief of Health Affairs shares his thoughts on what a Trump presidency will mean for health care, and how reporters can cover this huge, evolving story.
Republicans, with their relentless insistence on repealing and replacing the ACA, have reframed the discussion of what’s politically possible to achieve in America at the moment.
The ACA has become a scapegoat in the media for all kinds of health care woes. "Somebody needs to be the referee on some of the cheap shots flying around on an uneven playing field," says Health News Review's Gary Schwitzer.
The use of air ambulances is on the rise and so are the sky-high surprise bills that often follow. So far states have been stymied in their efforts to regulate the industry. It's a story worth exploring in your community.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are merely the latest in a long line of American politicians who have cast aspersions on the Canadian health care system. Here's what they don't get.
What's known as the "public option" has been given a fresh push by Clinton's campaign and the Democratic Party this year. But while the Obamacare problems it seeks to address are real, it's an unlikely solution.
Too often, people experience death in ways deeply at odds with how they'd wish to live out their final days. In a recent webinar, a policy expert and journalist shared ideas for how the U.S. healthcare system navigates the end of life.
