#health insurance

Insurers now commonly require prior authorization for many mundane medical encounters, including basic imaging and prescription refills.

There are no hard-and-fast rules, but here’s some guidance about when it may make more sense to choose one or the other.

Advocates are pressing the IRS to crack down on nonprofit hospital systems that withhold financial assistance from low-income patients.

People without insurance will need to either pay full price, seek free or low-cost vaccines from community clinics or go without.

The federal government’s extra funding for states that kept people on Medicaid will end in the coming months.

People who are injured or sick are asked, in a moment of stress, to prudently decide which medical setting is the best place to seek help.

Around 100 million people in the U.S. have health care debt totalling at least $140 billion.

Plus: Over 10 prevention services related to hepatitis, HIV and sexually transmitted infections covered by the Affordable Care Act.

California bans the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products; South Dakota extends access to Medicaid.

Insurers should allow co-pay assistance to count as out-of-pocket spending, claims HHS lawsuit by HIV, hepatitis and diabetes advocates.

The woman’s uninsured brother needed a liver transplant. She fought to get him on a donor list and a transplant.

Left untreated, hepatitis C can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and the need for a liver transplant.

People who were covered by Medicaid were less likely to be screened than those with private health insurance.

Some 100 million people—including 41% of U.S. adults—have health care debt, according to a recent KFF survey.

The burden is forcing families to cut spending on food and other essentials. Millions are being driven from their homes or into bankruptcy.