Articles on Health insurance

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Americans may lose free coverage for cancer and blood pressure screenings, HIV prevention medication and other essential services. Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

Preventive care may no longer be free in 2026 because of HIV stigma − unless the Trump administration successfully defends the ACA

After a group of employers refused to provide their employees access to free HIV prevention treatment, the Supreme Court may decide whether insurers are required to fully cover preventive care.
Farmworkers at Del Bosque Farms pick and pack melons on a mobile platform in Firebaugh, Calif., in July 2021. AP Photo/Terry Chea

Providing farmworkers with health insurance is worth it for their employers − new research

At a time when California’s farm operators are struggling to hire enough people, providing better benefits could attract more workers who are citizens or have legal immigration status.
Pennsylvania is one of 13 states whose employee retirement benefit is limited to privately administered Medicare Advantage. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Medicare Advantage is covering more and more Americans − some because they don’t get to choose

Medicare Advantage − the private option that costs taxpayers extra and requires prior approval − is the default for some state agencies and corporations.
A nurse peers through a small window in a COVID-19 unit of Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., on Dec. 21, 2020. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system

At a moment of soul-searching about health care in the US, an expert on global health puts the American system in perspective.
Medicare Advantage was supposed to find efficiencies, but instead is costing taxpayers an extra $83 billion a year. Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Taxpayers spend 22% more per patient to support Medicare Advantage – the private alternative to Medicare that promised to cost less

Rather than finding efficiencies and saving money all around, the private companies that administer the Medicare Advantage option to Medicare are profiting at seniors’ – and taxpayers’ – expense.
The price of the doctor’s visit you calculated online might not reflect what you’ll actually be billed. CSA Images/Getty Images

Doctor’s bills often come with sticker shock for patients − but health insurance could be reinvented to provide costs upfront

While some policies have made the price of certain health care services more transparent, they don’t guarantee patients won’t be surprised by how much they’ll need to pay out of pocket.
It can take a lot of effort to understand the many different Medicare choices. Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage: sales pitches are often from biased sources, the choices can be overwhelming and impartial help is not equally available to all

Signing up for a Medicare plan when you turn 65 − or making changes in subsequent years – means wading through a thicket of consequential choices that can’t always be undone.
Getty Images

NZ already spends less on health than Australia or Canada – we need proper funding, not ‘crisis’ management

New Zealand is not unique – health systems in most high-income countries are under stress. But that’s no reason to question the viability of the publicly-funded system in general.

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