Kaiser Health News

Paul Davis is a retired physician in Findlay, Ohio, who calls his uveal melanoma “one of the rarest tumors on the planet.” The rare eye cancer requires $50,000-a-week drug treatments to keep Davis alive, and he worries that cost may saddle his family with a crushing medical debt when he’s gone. | MADDIE MCGARVEY/KHN

Your money or your life: Patient on $50,000-a-week cancer drug fears leaving behind huge medical debt

Prices for cancer drugs have soared to from less than $10,000 annually in the 1990s to more than $200,000 today, expert says.

Feb 16

SHUTTERSTOCK

Doctors are disappearing from emergency rooms as hospitals look to cut costs

Midlevel practioners are increasingly replacing emergency room physicians as more hospitals outsource, but one study suggests the shift could lead to longer stays and increased costs.

Feb 14

SHUTTERSTOCK

Centene agrees to $215 million settlement with California for alleged Medicaid overbilling

The deal makes California at least the 17th state to settle pharmacy billing claims, including Oregon.

Feb 9

Elizabeth Fisher Smith sits with husband Matt and dogs Caspian and Gretl at the table where she spends hours every day preparing IV hydration and nutrition, on which she depends to survive. | ARTHUR ALLEN/KHN

CVS and Optum panicked thousands of their sickest patients

Home and outpatient infusions are a growing business in the United States, but the less profitable parts of the business — as well as the vulnerable patients they serve — are at serious risk.

Feb 7

SHUTTERSTOCK

A technicality could keep RSV shots from kids in need

Immunizations against the respiratory syncytial virus are nearing the market, but a glitch in congressional language may make it difficult to allow children from low-income families to get it.

Feb 7

BRC Recovery, a private equity-backed addiction treatment company, bought Nashville Recovery Center in 2021. Private equity investment has driven much of the recent activity in substance abuse treatment, an industry that is highly fragmented and has historically had few guardrails to ensure patients are getting appropriate care. | BLAKE FARMER FOR KHN.