‘It Felt Like Deception’: An Elite NYC Hospital Charges Huge Virus Test Fees
Insurers are stuck with the big bills from Lenox Hill, but the public ultimately pays through higher premiums. More
COVID-19 curbed health systems’ charity-care spending in 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic kept many patients out of hospitals last year. That meant fewer people qualified for free or discounted care compared with 2019. More
Her Doctor’s Office Moved 1 Floor Up. Why Did Her Treatment Cost 10 Times More?
Same building. Same procedure. Same doctor. But there was an extra "facility fee" because the location changed slightly. A shot that used to cost her about $30 went up to more than $300. More
Does higher hospital CEO compensation mean better quality?
There's nothing wrong with paying a hospital leader for doing a good job, especially in a crisis. But when compensation goes into the millions we have to ask, are we getting what we pay for? More
Taxpayers Fund Research and Drug Companies Make a Fortune
The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t want things to change, but Americans can have both lower prices and innovation. More
Universities launch opioid litigation archive to ‘ensure history doesn’t repeat itself’
The goal of the Opioid Industry Documents Archive is to provide transparency into the strategies companies used to increase sales. More
‘It was nuts. It was exhilarating’: How a punishing year transformed Mayo Clinic
This echoes a national trend healthcare institutions have seen this year, said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare-focused think tank. “When you get this type of a massive crisis, quite often, the old kind of leadership models and chains of command have to get disrupted. Because if you have to move quickly, there's a lot of native intelligence in the rank and file or on the front lines,” Saini said. “Crises like this kind of allow some of that knowledge, which is practical knowledge, to be made available.”
Biden’s choice and FDA’s loosening standards of evidence
The US Food and Drug Administration is widely considered the world’s premier regulator of drugs and devices, but critics say three decades of deregulation have resulted in increasingly lax oversight and lower standards of evidence, writes Jeanne Lenzer More
‘The public is being denied the truth’: A legal expert blasts Purdue’s bankruptcy plan to end opioid lawsuits
The process "appears to be a system designed to protect the creditors, but it’s not," said legal expert and advocate Charlotte Bismuth. More
Low Compliance From Big Hospitals On CMS’s Hospital Price Transparency Rule
The success of this initiative will rely heavily on hospital compliance. In this blog post, we assess early hospital compliance and discuss the implication of our results for the future of health care pricing transparency. More
The Drugs at the Heart of Our Pricing Crisis
Biologic drugs rack up billions in annual U.S. sales. Here’s a solution to lower the costs. More
Maggots, Rape and Yet Five Stars: How U.S. Ratings of Nursing Homes Mislead the Public
Nursing homes have manipulated the influential star system in ways that have masked deep problems — and left them unprepared for Covid-19. More
Did CDC Delays in Up-To-Date Masking Advice Cost Health Workers’ Lives?
Researchers say “very low”-quality research from the 2003 SARS outbreak drove guidelines on who got the best PPE, leaving those most at risk exposed. More
High-Deductible Health Plans for US Children: Trends, Health Service Use, and Financial Barriers to Care
Few studies have examined children's enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and associations with health service use. We examine trends, health service use, and financial barriers to care for US children with high-deductible private insurance. More
Can we put a ceiling on hospital prices?
In JAMA, Michael Chernew and Maximilian Pany argue that a price cap on the higher end of hospital prices would save tens of billions. More
Covid-19 conflicts of interest go beyond pharma
Dr. Vivek Murthy, Biden's pick for surgeon general, was recently found to have accepted significant consulting payments from private companies. Should this disqualify him from the position? More
How One Firm Put an ‘Extraordinary Burden’ on the U.S.’s Troubled Stockpile
The shortage of lifesaving medical equipment last year was a searing example of the government’s failed coronavirus response. As health workers resorted to wearing trash bags, one Maryland company profited by selling anthrax vaccines to the country’s emergency reserve. More
Blue Cross of Minnesota lawsuit takes aim at ‘Pharma bro’
Lawsuit alleges monopoly scheme by drug company once headed by now imprisoned Martin Shkreli. More
High Staff Turnover at U.S. Nursing Homes Poses Risks for Residents’ Care
A new study highlights the persistent problems caused by an unstable work force, an underlying threat that may have led to staggering death tolls in the pandemic. More
Providers weigh long-term risks, rewards of post-COVID collaboration
Regional health systems are working together more than ever to combat COVID-19, and are hopeful the collaborative spirit will endure, if regulators allow it. More