Floodwaters, rats, and mold once threatened to derail a Haywood County family’s future—until Medicaid helped them find safe housing. Now advocates warn stories like theirs may disappear under Republicans’ “big beautiful bill.”
To control costs, nearly all health insurers use a system called prior authorization, which requires patients or their providers to seek approval before they can get certain procedures, tests, and prescriptions.
This year’s Obamacare open enrollment period, which started Nov. 1 in most states, is full of uncertainty and confusion for the more than 24 million people who buy health insurance through the federal and state Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Nationwide, contract disputes are common, with more than 650 hospitals having public spats with an insurer since 2021. They could become even more common as hospitals brace for about $1 trillion in cuts to federal health care spending prescribed by President Donald Trump’s signature legislation signed into law in July.
North Carolina Republicans approved a ‘bait and switch’ bill that would block Medicaid patients from using their insurance at Planned Parenthood clinics.
With the federal shutdown entering its fourth week, spurred by a stalemate over the cost of health insurance for 22 million Americans on Affordable Care Act plans, a new report shows that over 154 million people with coverage through an employer also face steep price hikes — and that the situation is likely to get worse.
Between teaching and patient care, North Carolina OB-GYNs Beverly A. Gray and Jonas Swartz co-host “Outlawed,” a podcast that unpacks abortion bans, misinformation, and the people caught in-between.
