Medical Costs

What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Hospital Bill

As Americans sink under medical expenses, debt collectors go to great—and sometimes strange—lengths to collect. By Olga Kazan, The Atlantic. On March 8, 2011, Joclyn Krevat, an occupational therapist in New York, was sitting at… Read More

Washington Couple Dies in a Murder-Suicide Over Angst About Medical Expenses

By Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY. In an extreme example of angst over expensive medical bills, an elderly Washington couple who lived near the U.S.-Canadian border died in a murder-suicide this week after leaving notes that detailed… Read More

Infusion Treatments — Needed or Not — Can Deplete Patients’ Wallets

By Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News. Shannon Wood Rothenberg walked into her annual physical feeling fine. But more than a year later, she’s still paying the price. Routine bloodwork from the spring 2018 visit suggested… Read More

Skyrocketing Health Care Costs Caused by Political Corruption

By Steven I Weissman. For Center for Health Journalism. I am going public to reveal the astonishing truth. There is a simple way to instantly, with ease, end our nation’s health cost misery! When the… Read More

Surprise $164,000 Bill for Heart Attack Could Cause Another

By Shanoor Seervai, The Commonwealth Fund. If you have a heart attack, chances are you won’t feel up to asking the emergency room doctor, “Are you in my network?” What’s more, if you’re lucky enough… Read More

Medical bill for 9-year-old girl’s snakebite? $142,000

By CARMEN HEREDIA RODRIGUEZ, KAISER HEALTH NEWS. It was dusk as Oakley Yoder and the other summer camp kids hiked back to their tents at Illinois’ Jackson Falls last July. As the group approached a mound… Read More

The Underlying Causes of Surprise Medical Bills

By David Blumenthal, M.D. and Shanoor Seervai, The Commonwealth Fund. Why do people get surprise bills in the first place and what can policymakers do to address the problem? Consumers’ shock in receiving surprise medical… Read More

Why The U.S. Remains The Most Expensive Market For ‘Biologic’ Drugs In The World

By Sarah Jane Tribble and Chris Bartlett for Kaiser Health News. Susie Christoff tried several drugs to cope with her painful psoriatic arthritis before finding Cosentyx worked the best. The problem was the cost. Europeans… Read More

Average cost per inpatient stay is $22,000. Average outpatient visit is approaching $500.

From the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The average outpatient visit in the United States costs nearly $500, according to a new scientific study. In addition, the average inpatient stay had a price tag… Read More

Pharma Execs Play While Patients Pay With Their Lives

From The Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy. Since the United States does not regulate prescription drug prices, Americans are forced to pay the price that the pharmaceutical industry chooses to charge. This often causes… Read More