Kellie Schmitt

Inmates who cycle in and out of jail can drive up incarceration and health care costs, says researcher Shannon McConville. Can Medicaid make a meaningful difference?

Our Remaking Health Care blog talks with Shannon McConville of the Public Policy Institute of California about how the health care safety net has fared under Obamacare, as well as other developments reporters should keep tabs on.

By aggressively documenting a patient’s conditions, insurers can inflate the amount of money they get from Medicare Advantage patients. Here's what reporters should understand about the hidden practice of "upcoding."

The tragedy in Flint continues to fill headlines. But nearly every community is at risk from some form of lead contamination. In our webinar this week, veteran reporters and experts offered journalists fresh ideas for covering such stories.

A new Health Matters webinar this week explored just how different the health care spending map looks when researchers are given access to price and spending data from private insurance plans.

Health insurance premium hikes have been modest in recent years, but out-of-pockets costs are another story. Our Thursday webinar on "Out of Pocket: Surprise Costs After Health Reform" offered a primer on the trends and a host of story ideas for reporting on these topics.

Across the country, patients who receive out-of-network care can face “exorbitant” charges for medical services compared to Medicare’s rates for the same procedures, and the prices can vary dramatically. But what explains these differences? It depends on who you ask.

Out-of-network "surprise bills" are a growing problem. Patients think they're staying in their coverage network only to receive a bill for thousands of dollars after a procedure from, say, an anesthesiologist who wasn't included in their plan. So far, proposed solutions have proven controversial.

People with insurance are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic condition than uninsured people. That means that as the number of insured grows, the health system will have to cope with an influx of patients newly diagnosed with conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

There’s no question that prescription drug prices are skyrocketing in the United States, and consumers aren’t happy about it. What’s more complicated, though, is understanding the complexities of the issue and reporting on what those soaring prices mean for consumers.