Bram Sable-Smith
KFF Health News
United States
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Past articles by Bram:
Temp Nurses Cost Hospitals Big During Pandemic. Lawmakers Are Now Mulling Limits.
Missouri is considering making it a felony to jack up temporary health care staffing prices during a statewide or national emergency. It’s one of at least 14 states looking to reel in travel nurse … → Read More
Eli Lilly Slashed Insulin Prices. This Starts a Race to the Bottom.
Eli Lilly’s news that it plans to cut insulin costs for patients will help, not hinder, the recent efforts in California and by entrepreneurs such as Mark Cuban to offer lower-cost alternativ… → Read More
Armed With Hashtags, These Activists Made Insulin Prices a Presidential Talking Point
Twitter has been a hotbed for the burgeoning insulin access movement and activism surrounding other medical conditions. For people with diabetes, the platform has helped propel concern about insuli… → Read More
A $30 Million Gift to Build an Addiction Treatment Center. Then Staffers Had to Run It.
Howard Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and chairman of his own charitable foundation, gave $30 million to build an addiction treatment center in the central Illinois community w… → Read More
When Malpractice Occurs at Community Health Centers, Taxpayers Pay
Federally funded clinics and their doctors are protected against lawsuits by federal law, with taxpayers footing the bill. The health centers say that allows them to better serve their low-income p… → Read More
This Open Enrollment Season, Look Out for Health Insurance That Seems Too Good to Be True
Complaints about misleading health insurance marketing are soaring. State insurance commissioners are taking notice. They’ve created a shared internal database to monitor questionable business prac… → Read More
A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husband’s ER Bill
A medical billing specialist investigated her husband’s ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospital’s charges — and provides a playbook for other consu… → Read More
$2,700 Ambulance Bill Pulled Back From Collections
After reporting from KHN, NPR, and CBS News, a patient’s $2,700 ambulance bill was pulled back from collections. → Read More
Community Health Centers’ Big Profits Raise Questions About Federal Oversight
Nonprofit federally funded health centers are a linchpin in the nation’s health care safety net because they treat the medically underserved. The average profit margins is 5%, but some have recorde… → Read More
The ambulance chased one patient into collections
After a car wreck, three siblings were transported to the same hospital by ambulances from three separate districts. The sibling with the most minor injuries got the biggest bill. → Read More
The Ambulance Chased One Patient Into Collections
After a car wreck, three siblings were transported to the same hospital by ambulances from three separate districts. The sibling with the most minor injuries got the biggest bill. → Read More
They thought they bought Obamacare plans. What they got wasn't insurance
Some consumers sign up for Obamacare and find out later they actually purchased a membership to a health care sharing ministry. But regulators and online advertising sites don't do much about it. → Read More
They Thought They Were Buying Obamacare Plans. What They Got Wasn’t Insurance.
Some consumers who think they are signing up for Obamacare insurance find out later they actually purchased a membership to a health care sharing ministry. But regulators and online advertising sit… → Read More
They thought they bought Obamacare plans. What they got wasn't insurance
Some consumers sign up for Obamacare and find out later they actually purchased a membership to a health care sharing ministry. But regulators and online advertising sites don't do much about it. → Read More
A staffing crisis is causing a monthslong wait for Medicaid, and it could get worse
The pandemic has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, and as Biden's COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ends, low-income people could find it even harder to get coverage. → Read More
Patients’ Perilous Months-Long Waiting for Medicaid Coverage Is a Sign of What’s to Come
The pandemic crisis has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, already delaying access to the insurance program in Missouri. As the public health emergency ends, low-income people nation… → Read More
Missouri Tried to Fix Its Doctor Shortage. Now the Fix May Need Fixing.
Five states have created “assistant physician” licenses that allow medical school graduates to practice without completing residency training. But a federal indictment in Missouri of one assistant … → Read More
Missouri Takes Months to Process Medicaid Applications — Longer Than Law Allows
Missouri has more people waiting to have their Medicaid applications processed than it has approved since the expansion of the federal-state health insurance program. Although most states process M… → Read More
Bounties and Bonuses Leave Small Hospitals Behind in Staffing Wars
A hospital in Wisconsin sued to keep seven employees from taking jobs with a competitor. A health system in South Dakota is offering nurses $40,000 signing bonuses. Facilities with fewer resources … → Read More
The Advice to ‘Vaccinate and Test’ Isn’t Much Help to Parents With Kids Under 5
Many parents of children too young for vaccines are exhausted. Some feel isolated and even forgotten by those who just want to move on even as omicron continues to sweep through parts of the countr… → Read More