STAT+: How hospitals could make money off of Kamala Harris’ medical debt relief plan
WASHINGTON — The largest health system in North Carolina simply wasn’t interested in canceling its…
Category: health care costs
Opinion: How much does it cost to give birth in the U.S.?
What does it cost to have a baby in the United States? This question has…
Opinion: First Opinion readers on cancer screening, mpox vaccines, and more
First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences…
Opinion: Health care price regulation is undemocratic
The Biden administration recently announced that it will use taxpayer dollars to “stabilize” Medicare Part…
STAT+: Peter Orszag wants the FTC and DOJ to stop challenging health care mergers
Peter Orszag was instrumental in crafting the Affordable Care Act. Now, he wants federal antitrust…
Opinion: Private equity: health care’s vampire
Private equity firms are sucking the resources out of America’s hospitals and nursing homes, and…
Harris pledges to scrap billions in medical debt with new presidential platform
WASHINGTON — Vice President Harris says she wants to cancel billions of dollars in medical…
Trump’s real health care agenda isn’t in Project 2025 — it’s in his own words
WASHINGTON — Former President Trump has made it abundantly clear that nobody else speaks for…
STAT+: How UnitedHealth turned a questionable artery-screening program into a gold mine
The nation’s largest health care company pressed thousands of its clinicians to use a thinly…
STAT+: Tim Walz stood up to corporate health care. Mayo Clinic was a powerful exception.
MINNEAPOLIS — Even for the most progressive of politicians, money talks. And elite nonprofit hospitals…
Morning Rounds: The ‘very risky business’ of buying weight loss drugs online
Want to stay on top of health news? Sign up to get our Morning Rounds newsletter in…
STAT+: Medicare scrambles to keep prescription drug plan premiums stable ahead of elections
WASHINGTON — Medicare officials are offering private insurers big subsidies to keep premiums for prescription-drug…
STAT+: UnitedHealth and HCA clash over hospital chain’s rates in ‘battle of the giants’
Contract disputes between hospitals and health plans have become routine, but they tend to be…
STAT+: Private equity firms to acquire health care billing and payments firm R1 in $8.9 billion deal
R1 RCM is finally getting taken off the public markets, ending a months-long saga between…
Harris health care agenda swiftly hailed by progressives and reproductive rights groups
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would be dropping out of the presidential…
Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden to replace him, is left of the president on health care
WASHINGTON — President Biden is ending his bid for a second term in office and…
Where 3 Democrats who could replace Biden atop the ticket stand on health care
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race has left the…
STAT+: Biden administration ignores calls to bolster hospital price transparency
The federal government will not modify regulations that dictate how hospitals publish their prices for…
STAT+: Why a big California employer ditched Elevance for some of its health plans
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is making a drastic change to one of its…
Watch: How pharmacy benefit managers influence drug pricing
This is Part 2 of “Behind the Counter,” an in-depth video series demystifying the complex…
Watch: The role of PBMs, patents, and public health in drug pricing
This is Part 1 of “Behind the Counter,” an in-depth video series demystifying the complex…
Opinion: When medical debt relief is not enough: A study showing what doesn’t work may help point to better solutions
Philanthropists and foundations like the one I work for take a lot of calculated risks….
STAT+: A short-lived Medicaid freakout sends insurers’ stocks diving
You’re reading the web version of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
STAT+: Medical crowdfunding isn’t a solution for skyrocketing health care costs
In the United States, health care costs are so out of control that medical crowdfunding…
STAT+: The stories that shaped our understanding of the health care system
You’re reading the web version of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
STAT+: CVS went hard after Medicare Advantage patients, now it’s retreating
CVS Health got walloped at the outset of 2024 as older adults in its Medicare…
Opinion: Unnecessary insurance claim denials compromise patient care and provider bottom lines
Health care providers are in an acute financial situation. Record-high wages required to attract and…
STAT+: Biden administration boosts some Medicaid payments to match commercial rates
You’re reading the web version of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
STAT+: Another hospital sues MultiPlan, alleging scheme to ‘suppress’ payments
MultiPlan is facing a new class action lawsuit that alleges the company and large health…
STAT+: The evidence grows: Prices spike after mergers between far-flung hospitals
The trend is clear: When hospitals in the same community merge, prices spike. The government…
STAT+: Elevance’s private equity deal will form $4 billion primary care company
These days, the surefire way to get ahead in health insurance is to become a…
Opinion: Former HHS secretaries: Congress should adopt site-neutral payments for health care
As two former secretaries of Health and Human Services, we are all too familiar with…
STAT+: Biden administration sticks with slight cuts to 2025 Medicare Advantage payments
Over the past few weeks, Medicare Advantage insurers demanded that the Biden administration give them…
Why a bill meant to stop surprise medical bills hasn’t worked
You’re reading the web version of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow of money…
Opinion: Good health care price transparency rules are at risk if Congress doesn’t act
Consider shopping for cereal in the grocery store. Buyers easily know how many grams of…
Opinion: Which country has the best health care? That’s the wrong question
I’ve spent my career studying how different health care systems work. People love to ask…
STAT+: CVS wants to become a medical powerhouse. Will long lines and understaffing hold it back?
CVS Health is perhaps best known for two things. First, there are the comically long…
Mammograms are less effective for women with dense breast tissue. Medical experts disagree on what to do about it
Millions of American women over age 40 receive regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer….
Opinion: Why haven’t health care cost increases exceeded inflation? There’s a very good reason
All Americans are worried about inflation. The prices for housing, clothes and food at the…
U.S. government spent more on health care in 2022 than six countries with universal health care combined
American taxpayers footed the bill for at least $1.8 trillion in federal and state health…
Opinion: Listen: The true costs of mediocre insurance plans for medical students
For the many high-achieving perfectionists who enter medical school each year, the stakes of their…
STAT+: What Amazon Prime’s new One Medical offering reveals about the future of health care
Amazon Prime members have a new offer in addition to the usual delivery and streaming…
STAT+: Remote patient monitoring helped manage hypertension better, but at a higher cost
During the pandemic, in search of tools to keep patients healthy and virus-free, doctors turned…
STAT+: Biden admin proposes fixes to No Surprises Act’s dispute resolution process
The Biden administration dropped a new proposal Friday designed to fix the controversial dispute resolution…
Fixing America’s health insurance woes is ‘actually very simple,’ says leading economist
Fixing the U.S. health care system can seem like a herculean task. But the solution…
Opinion: A better way for doctors and health plans to manage genetic tests
New technology has a history of overwhelming existing systems that try to manage it, and…
STAT+: Eye docs urge Medicare to lower insurance hurdles amid shortage of repackaged Avastin
Due to a shortage of a widely used compounded medicine for serious eye diseases, two…
Women spend 20% more per year on out-of-pocket health costs, says report
Women of all ages pay a total of $15.4 billion more than men on annual…
STAT+: Drug industry payments to eye docs boosted Medicare spending on pricier treatments
Ophthalmologists who accepted payments from drug companies were less likely to prescribe a cheaper medicine…
As Biden plans to ban medical debt from credit scores, advocates press for more change
The dramatic impact of medical debt on credit scores may soon be a thing of…