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Another election year battle over Affordable Care Act threatens coverage for millions
By: PBS Newshour
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsHour) — The number of Americans getting health insurance through the Affordable Care Act has hit a record high with more than 21 million people signed up through… Read More

Medicare Advantage keeps growing. Tiny, rural hospitals say that’s a huge problem
By: Sarah Jane Tribble | NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — Jason Bleak runs Battle Mountain General Hospital, a small facility in a remote Nevada gold-mining town that he describes as “out here in the middle of nowhere.”… Read More

How algorithms are being used to deny health insurance claims in bulk
By: Ali Rogin | Kaisha Young | Juliet Fuisz | PBS NewsHour
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WASHINGTON (NewsHour) — Federal data shows that health insurance companies denied more than 49 millions claims in 2021, but customers appealed less than 0.2 percent of them. Investigative journalists at ProPublica… Read More

Medicaid renewals are starting. Those who don’t reenroll could get kicked off
By: Maria Godoy I NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — Dominique Jackson has been on Medicaid for seven years. But the Columbus, Ohio, resident didn’t realize he’d have to verify his eligibility every year to keep his… Read More

Pandemic rules for Medicaid enrollment are ending soon. Here’s what that means
By: John Yang | Andrew Corkery | PBS NewsHour
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WASHINGTON (NewsHour) — The nation’s uninsured rate reached an all-time low during the pandemic, largely because Congress temporarily blocked states from kicking people off Medicaid even if they were no… Read More

Investigation: Many U.S. hospitals sue patients for debts or threaten their credit
By: Noam Levey | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Despite growing evidence of the harm caused by medical debt, hundreds of U.S. hospitals maintain policies to aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills, using tactics such… Read More

How Medicare Advantage plans dodged auditors and overcharged taxpayers by millions
By: Fred Schulte | Holly K. Hacker | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — In April 2016, government auditors asked a Blue Cross Medicare Advantage health plan in Minnesota to turn over medical records of patients treated by a podiatry… Read More

Hidden audits reveal millions in overcharges by Medicare Advantage plans
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000… Read More

Group warns health care costs could increase dramatically for some Ohioans soon
By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Democrats and advocates for Ohioans who receive subsidies for health care are urging Congress to pass a bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act… Read More

Health insurance prices for care are out there, but finding them is hard
By: Julie Appleby | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Data wonks with mighty computers are overjoyed. Ordinary consumers, not so much. That’s the reaction about three weeks into a data dump of enormous proportions. Health… Read More

Advocates worry new law could lead to vulnerable Ohioans being kicked off Medicaid
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that the federal government declared in January 2020 is set to expire on Saturday. That’s likely to be extended… Read More

A staffing crisis is causing a monthslong wait for Medicaid, and it could get worse
By: Bram Sable Smith | Rachana Pradhan | Kaiser Health News
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SALEM, Mo. (NPR) — Korra Elliott has tried to avoid seeing a doctor while waiting to get on Medicaid. She worries she can’t afford more bills without any insurance coverage…. Read More

How to get insurance to pay for at-home COVID tests, according to the White House
By: Jonathan Franklin | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — The Biden administration announced Monday new details on how Americans can get free COVID-19 tests — or get reimbursements from their private insurance. This follows up… Read More

Companies tell unvaccinated workers to pay more for health insurance
By: Andrea Hsu | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — As Covid cases surged over the summer, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian took action: Unvaccinated workers would have to pay an extra $200 a month… Read More

Will Supreme Court Invalidate Obamacare A Decade After It Was Enacted?
By: Nina Totenberg | NPR
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There would be enormous consequences were the court to throw out the ACA, which has survived twice in the high court. But the court’s makeup is very different now than on those past occasions.

WATCH: For Many Americans, Health Coverage is Tied to a Job — and Now They Have Neither
By: PBS Newshour
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsHour) — Consequences of the unemployment driven by the novel coronavirus pandemic will reverberate through the U.S. economy for months, if not years. One result: as millions of Americans… Read More

Survey: Americans Agree Health Care System Needs Fixing
By: Christine Herman | Side Effects
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Americans are divided on lots of issues. But a new national survey finds that people across the political spectrum agree on at least one thing: Our health care system needs… Read More

Ohio Medicaid Seeks Ideas for Improving Patient Experiences
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s Medicaid department is asking for input from companies and organizations familiar with the program on how to improve the experience of patients. A formal request… Read More

Ohio Bill Would Require Insurance Companies to Follow Federal Law
By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
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Federal law mandates insurers treat mental health services like they would physical health care. But the sponsors of a new bill in the Ohio Legislature say that’s not happening. Rep…. Read More

Change to Insurance Process Could Connect Cancer Patients to Treatment Faster
By: Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau
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Ohio lawmakers are proposing a bill that would eliminate an insurance provision known as “step therapy” for people diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. Step therapy is when an insurance company… Read More

DeWine Says Addressing Increase in Uninsured Children is a Priority
By: Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau
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There are about 133,000 children in Ohio that do not have health care insurance, according to a report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The study analyzed census… Read More

Beshear Defends Medicaid Expansion in Ky.
By: Associated Press
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Democrat Andy Beshear has offered a vigorous defense of Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion as he promotes an issue that’s become a flash point in his campaign against… Read More

Medicare Changes Allowed During Ohio Open Enrollment Period
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s next open enrollment period for Medicare is underway. It began Tuesday. Ohioans have until Dec. 7 to sign up or make changes to their coverage… Read More

Employees Start To Feel The Squeeze Of High-Deductible Health Plans
By: Rachel Martin I NPR
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The average deductible for employer-sponsored health insurance has quadrupled in the last 12 years. A Los Angeles Times investigation finds even insured workers are going without needed medical care.

Trump Administration Now Says Entire Affordable Care Act Should Be Repealed
By: Laurel Wamsley | NPR
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A letter from the Department of Justice announced the shift, in support of a district court judge’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The case will likely end up in the Supreme Court.