Far fewer U.S. women lost health insurance coverage after giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic than in previous years, likely due to a federal law that prevented Medicaid from dropping people, researchers say.
Black kids and Hispanic kids with cancer fare worse than their white counterparts, a large, nationwide study finds.
"This study suggests that improving health insurance coverage and access to care for children, especially those with low [socioeconomic status], may reduce racial/ethnic survival disparities," Jingxuan Zhao, an associate scientist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, a...
When the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, a new crisis in insurance coverage in the United States may begin.
Fifteen million Americans who enrolled in Medicaid during the pandemic could lose their coverage when the emergency declaration ends, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute, a social policy think tank.
Its researchers said states can minimize disenrollment by k...
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on the economy and jobs, it didn't result in fewer Americans having health insurance.
The number of 18- to 64-year-olds in the United States without health insurance held steady at 11% between March 2019 and April 2021, according to a survey by the Urban Institute, a social policy research organization.
People of color are consistently less likely to see medical specialists than white patients are, a new U.S. study finds, highlighting yet another disparity in the nation's health care system.
Researchers found that compared with their white counterparts, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans had significantly fewer visits to doctors of various specialties -- ranging from...
Racial disparities in breast cancer survival have narrowed in recent years, but Black women with the disease still have double the death rate of white women.
That's according to a study that tracked breast cancer trends in Florida between 1990 and 2015. Overall, deaths from the disease declined among Black, Hispanic and white women alike -- with the improvement being greater among minorit...
About 1 in 10 U.S. cancer survivors delays follow-up care because they can't afford associated medical bills, even if they're insured.
That's the conclusion from an analysis of data from more than 5,400 survivors of various cancers. Most were insured, college-educated and had annual incomes above the national average. Their average age was 67, and most were female and white.
U.S. hospitals have been required to make their prices public since 2019, but 18 months into the rule more than half weren't doing it, a new study finds.
In 2018, the Trump administration issued a rule requiring hospitals to publish their "chargemasters" on their websites. A chargemaster is a rundown of a hospital's services, along with their list prices - something akin to the manufactur...
Tens of millions of Americans will find it substantially more affordable to buy their own health insurance starting this month, thanks to generous financial help included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) signed by President Joe Biden in March.
That includes many people who've already bought a plan for this year, as well as people who don't have insurance right now.
Racial segregation may help explain why Black Americans with lung cancer do more poorly than their white counterparts, a new study suggests.
For years, U.S. studies have documented racial disparities in lung cancer. Black Americans are less likely to receive surgery for early-stage lung cancer -- the standard of care -- and they typically die sooner.
The popularity of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, continues to grow, with nearly two-thirds of Americans saying they want the law to remain as is or be improved, a new Harris/HealthDay poll shows.
About 34% of U.S. adults think the Affordable Care Act should remain in place, and another 28% believe it should stay but have some parts changed, according to poll results taken...
As the Affordable Care Act faces scrutiny once more from the U.S. Supreme Court, new research shows it may be helping to save American lives otherwise lost to cancer.
The study found that expansions of health insurance coverage through Medicaid -- a feature of Obamacare -- appeared tied to a rise in the number of cancers spotted via screening when they were still early in development. Can...
Furloughs and layoffs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have left many Americans without health insurance, a new survey reveals.
"Here in the fourth month of COVID-19-related job losses, a growing number of people won't be able to afford health care in the midst of the worst public health crisis in modern times," said report author Sara Collins, vice president for health care cov...
The coronavirus pandemic has put a spotlight on the sacrifices of America's health care workers, yet many of them live in poverty and can't afford health insurance.
A new study finds that more than 600,000 health care workers are poor and potentially without insurance or paid sick leave, and up to 4 million have health problems that put them at risk of dying from COVID-19.
Though they are at a higher risk of childbirth complications and pregnancy-related death, women who are black, Hispanic or indigenous are less likely than white women to be insured, new research shows.
The study revealed that almost half of black, Hispanic and indigenous women had disruptions in insurance coverage between preconception and post-delivery compared to about one-quarter o...
The day paramedics rushed Jeramiah Parsons to the hospital, his lips were so sore and swollen he had trouble talking. A skin-picking habit related to his methamphetamine addiction had permitted a dangerous antibiotic-resistant infection to take up residence in his face. He had no health insurance and no doctor he could call.
"It's difficult to acquire a primary care physician, especia...
In a finding that likely applies to emergency rooms across the United States, researchers report that over 10,000 uninsured patients needed lifesaving kidney dialysis at Texas emergency departments in 2017.
Those patients incurred almost $22 million in hospital costs, the University of Texas Health Science Center scientists said.
Obamacare narrowed racial and ethnic gaps in access to health insurance and care, but it didn't eliminate them, a new study reports.
University of Michigan researchers analyzed data gathered from 19- to 64-year-olds nationwide between 2008 and 2017. They found that before Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance programs went into effect in 2010, nearly 25% of blacks and 40% of His...
The number of people struggling to pay their medical bills declined dramatically during the last decade, as the Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance coverage and financial protection for the sick.
The percentage of families who had problems paying medical expenses in the previous year declined from about 20% in 2011 to 14% in 2018, according to a new report from the U...
Two million more Americans didn't seek health care from late 2016 through 2017 because they couldn't afford it and/or lacked insurance, new research shows.
The analysis of data from 2011 through 2017 also found that health care coverage and access improved with implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but reversed after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans bega...
Even though the Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance, the number of Americans who can't afford to see a doctor keeps increasing, a new study shows.
The researchers found that compared with two decades ago, more Americans today say they have skipped a needed trip to the doctor due to costs, despite a roughly 60% increase in people with health insurance.
Minority women with breast cancer are less likely to have insurance, which could lower their odds of survival, researchers say.
"Having adequate health insurance for all could reduce the persistent racial outcome disparities in breast cancer," said study lead author Dr. Naomi Ko, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.
Many working-age Americans struggle to pay for the heart medications that protect them from heart attack, stroke and heart disease, a new study reports.
About one in eight adults suffering from a high-risk heart problem say financial strain has caused them to skip taking their meds, delay filling a prescription, or take a lower dose than prescribed, the researchers said.
Folks who aren't covered by private insurance are much more likely to get booted out of the hospital early, a new study finds.
Uninsured patients were also more than twice as likely to be transferred to another hospital and 66% more likely to be discharged outright, compared with people with private insurance, the findings showed.
In a finding that brings bad news as America struggles with an opioid epidemic, a new report shows that only four states provide adequate insurance coverage for addiction treatment.
"We are calling on states to ensure health plans cover the full range of effective addiction treatments and address the serious gaps identified in this report," said report author Lindsey Vuolo. She is dir...