https://thecareledger.us/ A daily report on what health care in the US actually costs: prices, bills, premiums and the data behind them. en-us Tue, 03 Nov 2026 15:36:36 +0000 https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-11-02-medicare-drug-plan-premiums-set-to-rise-50-for-enrollees-who/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-11-02-medicare-drug-plan-premiums-set-to-rise-50-for-enrollees-who/ Mon, 02 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy 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. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-11-01-aca-open-enrollment-opens-with-benchmark-premiums-up-13-for-2027/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-11-01-aca-open-enrollment-opens-with-benchmark-premiums-up-13-for-2027/ Sun, 01 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy 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. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-judge-strikes-federal-limit-on-medicaid-work-rule-exemption-for/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-judge-strikes-federal-limit-on-medicaid-work-rule-exemption-for/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy 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. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-labor-department-rule-makes-pharmacy-benefit-managers-disclose/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-labor-department-rule-makes-pharmacy-benefit-managers-disclose/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy 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. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-an-urgent-care-asked-an-uninsured-patient-for-400-before-an/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-29-an-urgent-care-asked-an-uninsured-patient-for-400-before-an/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Patients and bills KFF Health News' latest Bill of the Month shows that urgent care centers, which generally fall outside the federal law requiring emergency departments to treat first, can ask for payment before treating a patient in anaphylaxis. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-28-medicare-raises-dialysis-payments-2-7-for-2027-and-patient/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-28-medicare-raises-dialysis-payments-2-7-for-2027-and-patient/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy A final rule sets next year's per-treatment rate for kidney dialysis, finishes folding phosphate binder drugs into the payment and expands extra pay for low-volume clinics. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-27-centene-s-marketplace-membership-falls-to-3-4-million-from-5-8/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-27-centene-s-marketplace-membership-falls-to-3-4-million-from-5-8/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The market The insurer lost about 2.4 million exchange members after enhanced federal tax credits expired, and it credited higher prices for improving margins on the people who stayed. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-27-hca-puts-third-quarter-cost-of-patients-who-lost-exchange/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-27-hca-puts-third-quarter-cost-of-patients-who-lost-exchange/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The market The hospital chain said people who dropped their marketplace plans kept coming for care without insurance, and Tenet reported the same shift two days later. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-24-doctors-offices-owned-by-hospitals-can-bill-10-times-more/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-24-doctors-offices-owned-by-hospitals-can-bill-10-times-more/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Patients and bills The Washington Post found that routine care in offices bought by hospital systems is often billed at hospital outpatient rates plus a facility fee, raising what patients and their insurers pay for the same service. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-23-proposed-rule-would-hold-back-aca-subsidies-until-eligibility/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-23-proposed-rule-would-hold-back-aca-subsidies-until-eligibility/ Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy A federal proposal would stop paying marketplace subsidies while eligibility questions are resolved, starting with 2028 coverage, and officials expect fewer people to enroll as a result. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-22-half-of-working-age-adults-went-without-needed-care-because-of/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-22-half-of-working-age-adults-went-without-needed-care-because-of/ Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Research and data The Commonwealth Fund's biennial insurance survey found cost-related barriers to care rising since 2022, including among adults who had coverage all year. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-22-workers-cost-for-family-coverage-rose-9-to-7-471-in-2026-kff/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-22-workers-cost-for-family-coverage-rose-9-to-7-471-in-2026-kff/ Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Research and data KFF's annual survey of employers found that what workers pay toward family coverage grew almost twice as fast as the total premium this year, with the heaviest bills at small firms. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-21-oregon-hospitals-doubled-financial-aid-after-a-law-required/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-21-oregon-hospitals-doubled-financial-aid-after-a-law-required/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Patients and bills Once Oregon made hospitals check patients for aid without waiting for an application, the free and discounted care they gave rose sharply, a Tradeoffs analysis found, while many Texas hospitals still bill patients first. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-20-new-drugs-launched-at-a-median-net-price-near-257-000-a-year-in/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-20-new-drugs-launched-at-a-median-net-price-near-257-000-a-year-in/ Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Research and data A report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review and West Health found that launch prices for new drugs rose sharply after 2022 and that most first prescriptions for those drugs were not filled within a month. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-16-medicare-proposal-would-cap-costs-for-patients-misled-by-wrong/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-16-medicare-proposal-would-cap-costs-for-patients-misled-by-wrong/ Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Policy A proposed rule carrying out a 2026 law would also limit how drug benefit managers are paid in Part D and end generic drug copays for the poorest enrollees in 2028. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-15-illinois-says-its-program-has-erased-1-4-billion-in-medical/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-15-illinois-says-its-program-has-erased-1-4-billion-in-medical/ Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Patients and bills The state buys unpaid medical bills in bulk for a fraction of what patients were charged and cancels them, showing how little old medical debt is worth once it goes unpaid. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-14-rush-and-endeavor-health-plan-to-merge-into-a-12-hospital/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-14-rush-and-endeavor-health-plan-to-merge-into-a-12-hospital/ Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The market The proposed deal would join two large nonprofit systems in a market with no dominant player, and a KFF researcher noted that hospital consolidation has been linked to higher prices. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-prices-drove-90-of-employer-plan-spending-growth-from-2019-to/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-prices-drove-90-of-employer-plan-spending-growth-from-2019-to/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Research and data The Health Care Cost Institute's annual claims report found that people with job-based coverage used only slightly more care over five years, while the average price of that care climbed every year. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-high-deductible-plan-members-paid-up-to-2-4-times-as-much-for/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-high-deductible-plan-members-paid-up-to-2-4-times-as-much-for/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Research and data A national claims study of more than half a million workers with diabetes or high blood pressure found that patients in high-deductible plans paid far more of the bill for routine recommended care, though the dollar gap was modest. https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-unitedhealth-profit-rises-75-as-its-medicare-advantage-rolls/ https://thecareledger.us/stories/2026-10-13-unitedhealth-profit-rises-75-as-its-medicare-advantage-rolls/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 The market The company said pricing discipline and benefit changes cut the share of premiums it spends on care, after it raised prices and trimmed benefits for seniors.