‘An Arm and a Leg’: Getting Insurance to Pay for Oral Surgery Is Like Pulling Teeth

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. Click here for a transcript of the episode. Health coverage generally does not cover dental work. But Susan Rice of Atlanta should have been the exception: She was hit by a speeding car, causing extensive damage to her own “grill.” She’s been fighting to get her oral … Read more

Employers Use Patient Assistance Programs to Offset Their Own Costs

Anna Sutton was shocked when she received a letter from her husband’s job-based health plan stating that Humira, an expensive drug used to treat her daughter’s juvenile arthritis, was now on a long list of medications considered “nonessential benefits.” The July 2021 letter said the family could either participate in a new effort overseen by … Read more

The Disability Tax: Medical Bills Remain Inaccessible for Many Blind Americans

Listen to this story: (If you can’t see the audio player, click here to listen on SoundCloud.) A Missouri man who is deaf and blind said a medical bill he didn’t know existed was sent to debt collections, triggering an 11% rise in his home insurance premiums. An insurer has suspended a blind woman’s coverage … Read more

Audits — Hidden Until Now — Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges

Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average. Summaries of the 90 audits, which examined billings from 2011 through 2013 and are the most recent reviews completed, were obtained … Read more