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ER doctors call private equity staffing practices illegal, seek to ban them
By Bernard Wolfson | Kaiser Health News A group of emergency physicians and consumer advocates in multiple states are pushing for stiffer enforcement of decades-old statutes that prohibit the ownership of medical practices by corporations not owned by licensed doctors. Thirty-three states plus the District of Columbia have rules on their books against the so-called […]
Hospital financial decisions play a role in critical shortage of pediatric beds for RSV patients
By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News The dire shortage of pediatric hospital beds plaguing the nation this fall is a byproduct of financial decisions made by hospitals over the past decade, as they shuttered children’s wards, which often operate in the red, and expanded the number of beds available for more profitable endeavors like joint […]
Shattered dreams and bills in the millions: losing a baby in America
The day after his 8-month-old baby died, Kingsley Raspe opened the mail and found he had been sent to collections for her care. That notice involved a paltry sum, $26.50 — absurd really, given he’d previously been told he owed $2.5 million for treatment of his newborn’s congenital heart defect and other disorders. Raspe and […]
Abortion is just the latest dividing line between the twin cities of Bristol and Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. and BRISTOL, Va. — The community of Bristol is proud to straddle the border between two states. Tennessee flags fly on the south side of State Street, Virginia flags on the north. A series of plaques down the middle of the main downtown thoroughfare mark the twin cities’ divide. A large sign at […]
Sen. Grassley questions UVA Health on aggressive billing practices
In response to a Kaiser Health News investigation into the University of Virginia Health System’s aggressive collection practices, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter Thursday demanding answers to questions about UVA’s billing practices, financial assistance policies and even its prices. Over six years, the state institution filed 36,000 lawsuits against patients […]
VCU will halt lawsuits against patients for unpaid bills
VCU Health, the major Richmond medical system that includes the state’s largest teaching hospital, said it will no longer file lawsuits against its patients, ending a practice that has affected tens of thousands of people over the years. VCU’s in-house physician group filed more than 56,000 lawsuits against patients for $81 million over the seven […]