Medicare drug plan premiums set to rise 50% for enrollees who stay put, KFF finds
The average premium for a stand-alone Medicare drug plan would climb from $34 to $51 a month in 2027 for people who keep their current plan, after federal regulators ended a subsidy that had held premiums down.
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Also today
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UnitedHealthcare and NewYork-Presbyterian extend their contract to November 30
UnitedHealthcare said it extended network access to the New York system through November 30, 2026, for most employer, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans while the two sides work on a new agreement. Its individual and family plans have been out of network at NewYork-Presbyterian since January 1, 2026.
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Patients report ER bills for urgent care visits at hybrid clinics
STAT reported that patients at hybrid ER and urgent care sites run by private equity-backed Intuitive Health received emergency-level bills for minor visits, including one patient who paid $211 at a urinary tract infection visit and later received a $1,756 bill.
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Kentucky's medical debt relief reaches $153 million
The state program has erased $153 million in medical debt for 67,000 residents, toward a goal of $250 million, using $2.5 million in state money through the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt. Second-round letters are expected around the week of November 9.
Top stories
- Policy
ACA open enrollment opens with benchmark premiums up 13% for 2027
Marketplace shoppers face a second straight year of double-digit premium increases, and a higher cap on what they can be asked to pay for care.
- Policy
Judge strikes federal limit on Medicaid work rule exemption for medically frail adults
A federal court ruled that the administration narrowed a protection Congress wrote for people with serious health conditions, two months before Medicaid work requirements begin in expansion states.
- Policy
Labor Department rule makes pharmacy benefit managers disclose pay to large employers
A Labor Department rule gives large self-insured employers a regular look at the rebates, fees and price spreads their drug benefit managers collect, starting with plan years that begin in mid-2027.
By section
Policy
- Medicare raises dialysis payments 2.7% for 2027, and patient coinsurance rises with it
- Proposed rule would hold back ACA subsidies until eligibility is verified
- Medicare proposal would cap costs for patients misled by wrong provider directories
The market
- Centene's marketplace membership falls to 3.4 million from 5.8 million a year earlier
- HCA puts third-quarter cost of patients who lost exchange coverage at $400 million
- Rush and Endeavor Health plan to merge into a 12-hospital Chicago-area system
- UnitedHealth profit rises 75% as its Medicare Advantage rolls shrink by 935,000
Patients and bills
- An urgent care asked an uninsured patient for $400 before an epinephrine shot
- Doctors' offices owned by hospitals can bill 10 times more, Washington Post reports
- Oregon hospitals doubled financial aid after a law required automatic screening
- Illinois says its program has erased $1.4 billion in medical debt in two years
Research and data
- Half of working-age adults went without needed care because of cost, survey finds
- Workers' cost for family coverage rose 9% to $7,471 in 2026, KFF survey finds
- New drugs launched at a median net price near $257,000 a year in 2025, report finds
- Prices drove 90% of employer plan spending growth from 2019 to 2023, report finds
Things to do
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Bill estimator
Work out what a bill will cost you once your deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket limit are applied.
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Check a medical bill
Ten steps for going through a bill before you pay it, with your progress kept on this device.
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The numbers quiz
Eight questions on the figures behind recent stories. See how close you can get.
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Words on a medical bill
Plain definitions of the terms on bills, insurance statements and hospital price files.
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From the publisher
Hospital price lookup
See what a hospital negotiated for a procedure, through Soro Data's free search.
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From the publisher
The prices behind the stories
Soro Data reads the negotiated rates hospitals are required to publish and traces each one back to the file it came from. Look up what a hospital negotiated for a billing code, free.
| Hospital | Plan | Negotiated rate |
|---|---|---|
| Jersey Shore University Medical Center | Horizon Indemnity | $114,356.00 |
| Hackensack University Medical Center | Horizon Indemnity | $104,610.00 |
| Englewood Health | Horizon, all commercial | $55,646.82 |
| Morristown Medical Center | Horizon BCBSNJ commercial | $47,170.00 |
Negotiated rates with Horizon plans at four New Jersey hospitals, read from each hospital's own price file: $67,186 apart for the same operation.