The number of Americans lacking health insurance ticked up slightly last year, marking the first annual increase in the uninsured rate in nearly a decade, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The uninsured rate rose from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 8.5 percent last year, amounting to nearly 2 million more uninsured people, as experts said the Trump […]
At a time when debate is beginning about a national Medicare-for-all plan and other approaches to expanding coverage through public programs, this month’s KFF Health Tracking poll examines Americans’ early opinion on a range of options under consideration…
Because of the high cost of healthcare, 44% Americans didn’t go see a physician last year when they were sick or injured, according to a new survey. The West Health Institute/NORC at the University of Chicago national poll comes as policymakers and health insurance companies are predicting a jump in health premiums and out-of-pocket costs, particularly […]
In tiny Marion, North Carolina, the Buchanans decided that $1,800 a month was too much to pay for health insurance, and are going without it for the first time in their lives. In Harahan, one bend of the Mississippi River up from New Orleans, the Owenses looked at their doubling insurance premiums and decided no, […]
“It’s probably nothing.” That’s what I said to myself not long ago when I started feeling lousy. I should know, since I’m a physician. But I learned the hard way that those “nothings” can get serious fast — and without health insurance, the bill can be astronomical. Just after Thanksgiving last year, it occurred to […]
The burden of high drug costs weighs most heavily on the sickest Americans. Drug makers have raised prices on treatments for life-threatening or chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cancer. In turn, insurers have shifted more of those costs onto consumers. Saddled with high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs that expose them to a […]
State officials in Virginia started warning families this week that the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is about to run out of money. It’s one of several states that have given notice or are preparing to tell families that funding for the program has ended and Congress has failed to renew it. For many […]
