Care and Access

A recent article in WUNC North Carolina Public Radio calls a contract dispute between WakeMed and UnitedHealthcare ‘a game of chicken.’ But is this a fair fight?

A recent Axios article highlights the hoops patients have to jump through to access PrEP, the essential HIV prevention medication, in spite of federal rules

Losing a maternity unit is not just bad for the health of OB-GYN patients, but for the health of the hospital. Can rural hospitals safely deliver babies when reimbursements keep dropping?

The increased use of telehealth is one of the few good things to come from the pandemic. Telehealth has enabled thousands of patients across the country to access their doctor from the… Read More

Imagine the scandal of your local hospital getting charged $5 million for failing to treat patients in emergencies or your supermarket being fined $5 million for failing to report a salmonella outbreak… Read More

There’s a narrative going around – one that’s repeated mostly by big health insurers and the politicians in their pockets. The story is small hospitals are being swallowed up by big hospitals. And… Read More

On the heels of a traumatic, COVID-ridden three years, overdoses have spiked, and substance abuse disorders are rising. And despite being federally required to cover mental healthcare at the same level as… Read More

Health insurance is a tricky business. In most lines of work, you can’t just say one thing and then do another. But as it turns out, if you’re a big enough insurance… Read More

Health insurance companies would like you to believe that hospitals – despite being filled with folks dedicated to saving lives – are not on the side of patients. They’d like you to believe that… Read More

North Carolina is known for many things: gorgeous mountains, delicious barbecue, and college basketball. But in December, North Carolina was recognized for something not-as-exciting: The state came in third on the list… Read More

Ooh, those are fightin’ words! Northside Hospital held nothing back in a recent statement on its efforts to stay in-network with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The hospital has been battling with… Read More

What’s that saying? When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging? Looks like UnitedHealthcare (United) finally caught wise that attempting to implement stricter criteria for emergency services was ditch-digging at its finest. In… Read More

If there was a good egg in the Un-covered world, it would be law professor Jackie Fox, who takes on patients’ insurance battles for fun – and wins. Kaiser Health News’ podcast… Read More

A few weeks ago, we shared that after providers – namely, pediatricians – complained that the insurer was paying them substantially below market rate to administer COVID-19 vaccines, UnitedHealthcare agreed to reprocess its COVID-19… Read More

“Home health” has been a buzzword for years, even more so during the pandemic. It’s also been an investment focus for many health insurers – most notably, Humana. But two recent stories… Read More

In our opinion, hospitals usually bear more than their fair share of blame when insurers make cuts to their health plan networks. To be fair, not every hospital is always in the… Read More

In general, making a “whoopsie” is not terribly sinister. We can forgive the occasional mess-up. But for big insurers, when there’s a processing error, it’s a big deal. Case in point: Remember… Read More

When it comes to underpaying for COVID-19 care, you almost can’t blame UnitedHealthcare for trying. Well, actually, we can. After providers, largely pediatricians, complained that United was paying them substantially below market… Read More

Ohio, Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois – and now, Iowa. By this point, you could probably tell the tale of misused state dollars as well as we can…but here we go again. In 2016,… Read More

When it comes to specialty conditions such as HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, anemia, and even cancer, the “special” label that describes the condition, medication and care isn’t a meaningless label. These… Read More

Ah, fall. The temps are dropping, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, the Christmas holiday will be here before we know it, and… insurers are cutting hospitals out of their networks. Wait,… Read More

Surprise bills, be gone! Spooky season may be over, but the holiday season is here, and we still hope there’s some magic left in the air to rid patients of surprise bills… Read More

Anesthesiologists are in a painful situation, which is unfortunate considering their job is to help manage pain. In a recent article in Modern Healthcare, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) claims that… Read More

A pair of insurers have yet to pay their bills, and we aren’t talking chump change. Provider representatives say the insurers are billions of dollars behind on payments owed to hospitals and… Read More