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Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
Shots - Health News

Shots

Health News From NPR

Health Inc.

Tuesday

Sales Of Short-Term Insurance Plans Could Surge If Health Law Is Relaxed

As Republicans look for ways to loosen the Affordable Care Act's coverage requirements, sales of short-term health insurance policies could take off. Petrol/Westend61/Getty Images hide caption

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Petrol/Westend61/Getty Images

Health Inc.

Sales Of Short-Term Insurance Plans Could Surge If Health Law Is Relaxed

KFF Health News

Consumer advocates say that these short-term policies, often in force for six months or less, don't have important safeguards that customers need. But the coverage can be cheaper.

Friday

Repeal Ripples: 5 Insurance Exchange Chiefs Contemplate An Uncertain Future

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, speaks during an enrollment event in Grand Park, in front of Los Angeles City Hall, on Nov. 14. Gary Friedman/LA Times via Getty Images hide caption

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Gary Friedman/LA Times via Getty Images

Health Inc.

Repeal Ripples: 5 Insurance Exchange Chiefs Contemplate An Uncertain Future

States running their own insurance exchanges instead of relying on the federal site had hoped the marketplaces would become thriving businesses. Now, the states aren't sure what the future holds.

Hospitals Worry Repeal Of Obamacare Would Jeopardize Innovations In Care

With financial incentives from the ACA, the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston signed agreements with physicians and insurers to create an accountable care organization, in hopes of reducing health care's cost in the long run. But achieving those savings takes time, say hospital officials. Elise Amendola/AP hide caption

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Elise Amendola/AP

Health Inc.

Hospitals Worry Repeal Of Obamacare Would Jeopardize Innovations In Care

The Public's Radio

One part of the federal health law gave hospitals financial incentives to improve patient care. Some invested big to make those changes and are worried about what losing that support would mean.

Hospitals Worry Repeal Of Obamacare Would Jeopardize Innovations In Care

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Wednesday

Legalizing Aid In Dying Doesn't Mean Patients Have Access To It

Annette Schiller of Palm Desert, Calif., who was 94 and diagnosed with terminal thyroid and breast cancer, had trouble finding doctors to help her end her life under California's new aid-in-dying law. Tana Yurivilca/Courtesy of Linda Fitzgerald hide caption

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Tana Yurivilca/Courtesy of Linda Fitzgerald

Health Inc.

Legalizing Aid In Dying Doesn't Mean Patients Have Access To It

KFF Health News

People in the six states where aid in dying is legal can have trouble finding a doctor or hospital to assist. Reasons cited include religious objections and doctors' discomfort with hastening death.

Thursday

A Roundup Of The Controversies Over Rep. Tom Price's Investments

Rep. Tom Price, nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary, faced questions about his investments in health care companies during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Health Inc.

A Roundup Of The Controversies Over Rep. Tom Price's Investments

The nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services traded in health care stocks while pressing legislation that may have helped the companies he invested in.

Tuesday

High Prices For Orphan Drugs Strain Families And Insurers

Luke Whitbeck, 2, sits on his mother's lap while the nurse prepares his treatment at a pediatric infusion center in Hawthorne, N.Y., in October 2016. Heidi de Marco/Kaiser Health News hide caption

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Heidi de Marco/Kaiser Health News

Health Inc.

High Prices For Orphan Drugs Strain Families And Insurers

KFF Health News

Three decades ago, Congress set up a system to encourage drug companies to develop treatments for rare diseases. The law has worked, but at a high cost.

High Prices For Orphan Drugs Strain Families And Insurers

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Drugs For Rare Diseases Have Become Uncommonly Rich Monopolies
NPR, Kaiser Health News/Evaluate Pharma analysis for Kaiser Health News on Sept. 21, 2016

Health Inc.

Drugs For Rare Diseases Have Become Uncommonly Rich Monopolies

KFF Health News

Drugmakers have brought almost 450 orphan drugs to market and collected rich incentives by doing so. But nearly a third of the medicines aren't new or were repurposed many times for financial gain.

Drugs For Rare Diseases Have Become Uncommonly Rich Monopolies

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Friday

Medicare Failed To Recover Up To $125 Million In Overpayments From Private Insurers

A Medicare Advantage plan run by Independence Blue Cross, headquartered in Philadelphia, was among those audited for overcharging by the federal government. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption

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Matt Rourke/AP

Health Inc.

Medicare Failed To Recover Up To $125 Million In Overpayments From Private Insurers

KFF Health News

Audits show Medicare potentially overpaid five insurance plans by $128 million, yet the government recovered only $3 million. The finding adds to questions about oversight of Medicare Advantage plans.

Tuesday

Obamacare Plans Don't Always Include Top Cancer Centers

Patients always have the right to appeal an insurer's decision to turn down their request for care at a major cancer center. But the chances an appeal will be honored can vary widely by type of cancer and an individual's case. Roy Scott/Ikon Images/Getty Images hide caption

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Roy Scott/Ikon Images/Getty Images

Health Inc.

Obamacare Plans Don't Always Include Top Cancer Centers

KFF Health News

In a number of states, including big ones such as New York and Texas, leading cancer centers like Memorial Sloan Kettering aren't included in insurers' networks. What's a patient's recourse?

Child Care Scarcity Has Very Real Consequences For Working Families
Chelsea Beck/NPR

Health Inc.

Child Care Scarcity Has Very Real Consequences For Working Families

In much of the U.S., demand for licensed infant care outstrips supply. Parents face lengthy waitlists, hefty waitlist fees, and few good options when returning to work after the birth of a baby.

Child Care Scarcity Has Very Real Consequences For Working Families

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Thursday

Sunday

In House Majority Leader's Home District, Many Depend On Health Law He Wants To Scrap

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has supported the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, despite health coverage it has brought to many of his constituents. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

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Andrew Harnik/AP

Health Inc.

In House Majority Leader's Home District, Many Depend On Health Law He Wants To Scrap

Some constituents of Rep. Kevin McCarthy who favor the law, or rely on it, see a conflict between his stated goals as a national leader and the needs of so many people in his home district.

Thursday

A Growing Group Of Doctors Are Big-Money Prescribers In Medicare

Gilead Sciences' Harvoni can cure hepatitis C, but the drug costs a fortune. Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS via Getty Images hide caption

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Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS via Getty Images

Health Inc.

A Growing Group Of Doctors Are Big-Money Prescribers In Medicare

ProPublica

In 2011, just 41 health care providers prescribed more than $5 million each in medicines under Medicare Part D. In 2015, that number was 514. The rise of expensive hepatitis C drugs is a factor.