Following the end of temporary pandemic-era rules expanding access to Medicaid, about 10 million Americans have lost that coverage.
But a new report finds that most folks who've lost coverage have done so because of paperwork issues, and they're far more likely to be peo...
Allowing pharmacists to treat minor illnesses could potentially expand health care access to more people and save millions of dollars, a new study suggests.
Having private insurance may not be all it is cracked up to be when it comes to hospital bills, new research warns.
In a report published Monday by the nonprofit research institute RAND Corp., resear...
A budget-busting 3.6 million Medicare recipients could now be eligible for coverage of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, a new KFF analysis says.
That's because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Wegovy (semaglutide) to reduce the risk of
America's mental health woes essentially serve as an annual economic downturn for the nation, a new study says.
Mental illness costs the U.S. economy $282 billion every year, equivalent to the average economic recession, researchers report.
That estimate amounts to...
About six out of 10 working-age adults hit with a cancer diagnosis say it put real pressure on their financial survival, a new report finds.
“Today's findings reiterate the cr...
Americans living in areas where primary care doctors and nurse practitioners are in short supply face a greater risk for emergency surgeries and complications, new research shows.
They're also more likely to wind up back in the hospital after they've left it.
That'...
The cost to American families of caring for a child with a mental health condition rose by almost a third between 2017 and 2021, a new report finds, to an average $4,361 per year.
Overall, American families spent an estimated $31 billion in 2021 on child mental hea...
Unexpected medical bills and high health care costs are dominating an election where kitchen table economic problems weigh heavily on voter's minds, a new KFF poll has found.
Voters struggling to pay their monthly bills are most eager to hear presidential candidates talk...
People with diabetes have to spend a ton of money to stay healthy, a new study reports.
Total and out-of-pocket costs for diabetics run hundreds to thousands of dollars more than regular medical expenses for people without diabetes, researchers found.
Type 1 diabet...
Millions of Black and Hispanic middle-class adults won't be able to afford senior housing and health care expenses as they grow old, a new study warns.
Dementia care can eat through the savings of cash-strapped seniors, a new study warns.
The average senior with dementia in non-nursing residential care facilities spent 97% of their monthly income on long-term care, researchers found. Meanwhile, those living in nursing h...
Medical tourism to Mexico for cosmetic procedures exposed Americans to a deadly fungal infection last year, a new report shows.
An outbreak of Fusarium solani meningitis occurred at two clinics in Matamoros specializing in elective cosmetic procedures like breas...
Folks squeezed financially may find themselves shut out from medical care, leading to delayed cancer diagnoses, a new report finds.
A full third of cancer patients suffered some form of recent financial hardship -- a bankruptcy, lien or eviction -- prior to their diagnos...
Americans pay nearly three times as much for their prescription drugs as residents of other nations do, new research shows.
Drug prices in the United States average nearly 2.8 times those seen in 33 other countries, the
Ever glance at your paycheck and wonder why your take-home pay is so much less than you'd expect?
The rising cost of employer-sponsored health insurance is a major reason why, a new study argues.
The cost of employer-sponsored health benefits increased much faster ...
A record-breaking 20 million Americans have already signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.
"Today, we hit a major milestone in lowering costs and ensuring all Americans have access to quality, affordabl...
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a lifeline for Americans, many of them gay men, who are at high risk of contracting the virus that causes AIDS.
But a case that is winding its way through the court system might push the cost of PrEP to levels that are unaffordable ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave the nod to a Florida plan to import drugs from Canada at much lower prices than in the United States.
The approval could prove to be a major turning point for the United States' prescription drug market.
U.S. res...
The average cost of hospital care for COVID-19 patients skyrocketed during the pandemic, outstripping what might be expected under inflation, a new study shows.
Average hospital costs for COVID patients increased five times faster than the rate of medical inflation throu...
Over 15 million Americans have signed up for health insurance using the Affordable Care Act's federal marketplace, a 33% increase from the year before, preliminary government data shows.
On Dec. 15, the deadline for coverage that starts Jan. 1, a whopping 745,000 people ...
An overwhelming majority of older Americans think health insurers and Medicare should cover the cost of weight-loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound, a new survey has found.
More than four out of five older adul...
The Biden administration is flexing some federal muscle in its push for lower drug prices, warning pharmaceutical companies that it might use its authority to cancel patent protections if a medication costs too much.
Federal law allows the government to grant patent lice...
A new 'technopill' can safely monitor a person's vital signs from inside their bodies, researchers report.
The vitals-monitoring (VM) Pill works by tracking the small vibrations in the body associated with lungs breathing and the heart beating.
It can detect if a p...
If you need medical care, you're more likely to skip it due to cost issues if you're American than if you're Australian, Canadian, British or French, a new report finds.
Rising costs aren't just causing poorer Americans to forgo needed care: The Commonwealth Fund report ...
Gun violence causes a ripple effect that creates a lasting impact on young people lucky enough to survive being shot, as well as their families, a comprehensive new study finds.
Child and teenaged gunshot survivors carry the physical and emotional scars of violence, and ...
A growing number of people have become unpaid caregivers for loved ones, and a new report says many are overlooking the financial consequences of their selflessness.
One in five adults now provide uncompensated care to family and loved ones with health problems, accordin...
Soon, you may be able to step out on your front porch and wait for your prescription medication to drop from the sky.
On Wednesday, Amazon Pharmacy announced that it is starting to test speedy prescription drug delivery by drones in selected locations.
“We're ta...
Dementia can take a big bite out of an American's bank account, robbing 60% of a patient's net worth in the eight years after a diagnosis, a new study says.
The average dementia patient will also see a doubling of out-of-pocket health care expenses in those first ei...
Pharmaceutical companies that make the 10 prescription drugs chosen to be the first for price negotiations for Medicare patients have agreed to talks with the government.
The Biden administration announced Tuesday that the drugmakers, including Merck, Bristol Myers Squib...
In yet another reminder of the psychic toll the pandemic has taken on young people, new research shows spending on mental health services for U.S. children and adolescents has risen sharply since 2020.
It climbed 26% for youths aged 19 and younger between March 2020 and ...
Despite reports of trouble last week where some people may have been denied insurance coverage while seeking COVID shots at pharmacies, the Biden administration said Thursday those issues have been ironed out.
That issue is "largely, if not completely," resolved after U....
New parents bringing home their bundle of joy often carry something else with them as they leave the hospital: medical debt.
That's according to new research from Michigan Medicine that found postpartum women are more likely to have medical debt than those who are pregna...
Americans seeking out the new COVID boosters are finding themselves held back by insurance entanglements and supply delays.
Some insurers have balked at covering the vaccines, with people arriving at shot appointments only to be told that they'll have to pay $100 or more...
Helping undocumented immigrants in the United States connect with primary care doctors could be a money-saver, substantially reducing emergency department use and lowering health costs, a new study finds.
The findings are from a New York City program that helped arrange ...
As people age, health issues tend to mount, but roughly a quarter of low-income adults over 65 have no medical insurance.
That's the age when most Americans become eligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance for seniors. But many of the uninsured seniors are Hisp...
Red tape is getting in the way of cancer patients receiving the treatment they crucially require, a new study has found.
Patients were 18% more likely to experience cancer care delays or be unable to stick to a treatment plan if they had to fill out a lot of paperwork, c...
The Biden administration on Tuesday named the first 10 medicines that will be subject to price negotiations between Medicare and participating drug companies.
The list represents the first step in a landmark program aimed at reducing the government's drug spending, and p...
Large numbers of Americans who were dropped from Medicaid this spring lost their coverage because of paperwork problems, and not because they weren't still eligible for the public health insurance program.
“I am deeply concerned about high rates of procedural terminati...
When they need health care, Americans can be slapped with surprise medical costs because of loopholes in the law and “junk fees,” according to the White House.
The Biden administration is taking action on several fronts to deal with these unexpected costs.
“E...
New federal initiatives could help save Americans money on health care costs.
President Joe Biden announced plans Friday to target surprise medical bills, scam insurance and third-party credit cards and loans that carry high interest charges, the Associated Press
A new study shows that older Americans with health issues are now staying with their Medicare Advantage managed plans, rather than swapping them for traditional plans through a health insurer.
Although Medicare Advantage has been criticized in the past for “cherry-pick...
Cancer affects families in numerous ways, and kids whose parents have had cancer are more likely to be hungry and to go without everyday essentials than their peers, a new American Cancer Society study reveals.
“Cancer is a life-threatening disease, and parents with a ...
Folks living in Massachusetts, Hawaii and New Hampshire may be among the nation's healthiest, according to a new scorecard that ranks how well the health care system in each U.S. state is working.
By contrast, people in Mississippi, West Virginia and Oklahoma fare the wo...
A majority of insured Americans have struggled with a wide array of stumbling blocks when trying to get coverage for their health care needs, a new national survey shows.
How prohibitive is the cost of diabetes care?
For American patients, including those with insurance, the full scope of related expenses is often so onerous that some have turned to crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe as a way to raise cash for care, new research s...
Folks who are loaded down with medical debt are less likely to survive a bout of cancer, a new study reports.
Researchers found that U.S. counties where more residents have medical debt in collections also had more cancer deaths, compared to counties with less medical de...
Money woes have long been linked to worse health care. Now, a new study finds financially strapped patients often put off cancer screenings -- only to learn they have the disease when it's advanced and tougher to treat.
Researchers studied the financial background o...
An exceptionally pricey gene therapy cure for sickle cell disease could soon be available, but it's not clear whether insurance companies will balk at the cost and deny coverage.
On the surface, the gene therapy does not appear as cost-effective as the grinding medical c...