Health Insurance

‘Bill of the Month’: The series that dissects and slashes medical bills

Since 2018, readers and listeners sent KFF Health News-NPR's "Bill of the Month" thousands of questionable bills. Our crowdsourced investigation paved the way for landmark legislation and highlighted cost-saving strategies for all patients

Police arrest ‘person of interest’ Luigi Mangione in United Healthcare CEO shooting

A man has been arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

After a shocking shooting, Americans vent feelings about health insurance

The death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson triggered a deluge of painful stories about health care denials on social media.

Anthem plans to put time limits on anesthesia coverage, alarming doctors

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is under scrutiny for planning to put time limits on anesthesia care. The Connecticut comptroller's office said Wednesday it had intervened to block the policy there.

Gulf South sees record ACA Marketplace enrollment, driven by enhanced subsidies

A new report finds that the South leads the U.S. in increased ACA Marketplace enrollment — especially in states that have not expanded Medicaid.

Bills tackling fentanyl trafficking and ‘good time’ limits in prisons advance

The bills would set a mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking or possessing fentanyl and reduce good time incentives, which can shorten prisoners’ sentences.

Conflict between Mississippi’s largest hospital, insurer a breaking point for some residents

The ongoing contract dispute between UMMC and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi has no end in sight, forcing some to consider leaving the state for good.

Report: Well-Being of Alabama Children Still Lags Nationwide

Alabama’s teen birth rate has decreased dramatically in the last decade. That’s according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has ranked the overall well-being of kids across the US for 30 years.

Alabama Has Nation’s Highest Rate of Cervical Cancer Death

Alabama has the highest rate of cervical cancer death in the country. Black women in the state die from the disease at nearly twice the rate of white women. That is according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch, an international nonprofit.

Businesses Worry Birmingham’s Political Spat Could Hurt City’s Revival

Birmingham's city center has seen project after project pop up over the last five years or so. While the business community would love to see that continue, there's concern the acrimony right now between Birmingham Mayor William Bell and the city council could cut into the momentum. We talk about that in this week's Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Ty West explains to WBHM's Andrew Yeager what has business leaders worried.

A Different Kind of Medical Drama: Local Doctors Give Voice to Bizarre New “ICD-10” Diagnosis Codes

Have you been struck by a duck? Maybe hurt in a spaceship accident? If so, the new medical coding system that went live across the nation this month has a code that applies to you. The tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases, or “ICD 10,” includes almost seventy thousand codes — roughly five […]