Latest Health care costs News
More money could result in fewer trips to ER, study suggests
Giving cash to poor people could result in fewer emergency department visits, a new study suggests. The study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at almost 2,900 low-income people who applied for a lottery in the Boston suburb of Chelsea,...
Britain's Treasury chief vows to run the economy with 'iron discipline' amid demands for pay raises
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new Treasury chief said Sunday she will run the economy with “iron discipline,” but suggested she’ll give public sector workers an above-inflation pay raise to help end a wave of strikes and strife. The Labour Party government is under pressure from...
Alabama birthing units are closing to save money and get funding. Some say babies are at risk
GROVE HILL, Ala. (AP) — One of the last remaining birthing units in southern Alabama will close next month to qualify for federal funding that will save the hospital’s emergency services, but doctors warn the move may cost newborns and pregnant women essential access to obstetric care. ...
Massachusetts Senate approved bill intended to strengthen health care system
BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Thursday aimed in part at addressing some of the issues raised after Steward Health Care said it plans to sell off all its hospitals after announcing in May that it filed for bankruptcy protection. Democratic Sen. Cindy...
Celebrities are getting $2,000 MRI scans to learn about their health. Should you?
WASHINGTON (AP) — What if there was a way to peer into your body and spot early signs of cancer and other life-threatening ailments before they became serious? That’s the pitch from a new cluster of companies selling high-tech scans to healthy people interested in learning more...
Can California’s health care providers help solve the state’s homelessness crisis?
When a shortfall of several hundred thousand dollars almost derailed new homeless housing in Bakersfield, the savior that swooped in to salvage the project wasn’t an affordable housing nonprofit, state housing grant or other traditional source. Instead, it was a health care company...
Pritzker signs law banning health insurance companies' 'predatory tactics,' including step therapy
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed into law measures to block what he called insurance companies' “predatory tactics to make an extra dime” by shortchanging consumers on their medical needs. The Democrat signed legislation codifying one of...
Relief in South Africa after J&J reversal allows key tuberculosis drug production at lower prices
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Medical advocacy groups have welcomed Johnson & Johnson’s decision not to enforce its patent on a critical tuberculosis medication, allowing its production at much lower prices, after South African authorities opened an investigation into the conglomerate. ...
Read the letter President Biden sent to House Democrats telling them to support him in the election
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants Democrats in Congress to know he has no intention of exiting this year's election, sending them a letter on Monday on his personal letterhead. Here is Biden's letter to the congressional Democrats whose backing he likely needs: ...
IRS delays in resolving identity theft cases are 'unconscionable,' an independent watchdog says
WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent watchdog within the IRS reported Wednesday that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases with delays that are “unconscionable." Overall, the 2024 filing season went smoothly,...
