Health Care Reform

These unexpected bills might discourage people from seeking preventive screenings that could be lifesaving, which is why the ACA deemed them "essential health benefits" that should be free.

Now, people harmed by the crisis, advocates, and public health and policy experts are hopeful that increasing congressional attention could push state and local governments to spend the money on treatment, housing, and other services for addiction victims and their families.

This series examines the long and ongoing journey to achieving better outcomes for mental health and addiction in the U.S. health care systems.

Hackler, a lawyer who sues patients on behalf of the hospital, buzzed through 51 cases, all but a handful uncontested, as is often the case.

This initiative marks the largest municipal effort to erase medical debt in partnership with nonprofit RIP Medical Debt, which buys bundled medical debt portfolios from providers, including hospitals and commercial debt buyers.

The Rural Emergency Hospital program guarantees hospitals extra cash if they provide emergency and outpatient services but end inpatient care, although just 18 out of 1,700 eligible hospitals have won the new designation.