ATLANTA – Hospitals must now publicly post their prices for delivering a baby, doing a brain scan and any other of the thousands of services they provide. This added transparency, now required under a new federal mandate, is meant to demystify hospital...
More infoAs CVS and Aetna prepare to merge, Georgia wins major concessions
(ATLANTA – November 26) Thanks to the hard-fought efforts of several state associations and the Georgia Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the CVS/Aetna merger approved by the State of Georgia contained some significant, one-of-a-kind...
More infoLeapfrog ‘A’s’ increase in Georgia hospitals
By Andy Miller – Albany Herald ATLANTA — The new Leapfrog Group report card on hospital safety found that 26 Georgia hospitals scored an “A” grade, up from 15 in the spring ratings. The Leapfrog Group’s report for the fall said 35 percent of graded...
More infoPatients get unexpected surprises in mail from out-of-network help
By Clark Howard – WSB-TV (Watch Now) ATLANTA – Visiting a hospital that’s in network doesn’t always mean the doctor who treats you will be. Experts say many times, hospitals, in an effort to keep costs down, will outsource the...
More infoGeorgia Showing Significant Gains in Hospital Safety
Atlanta, Georgia—Nov. 8, 2018 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit aiming to improve health care quality for consumers, employers and purchasers, announced today the fall 2018 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. Georgia ranks 17th in the nation for...
More infoMedicaid expansion and the fate of Obamacare are at the heart of the heated Georgia gubernatorial race
By Emma Newburger – CNBC A national battle over whether to extend public health insurance to low-income adults is at the center of a tightly contested gubernatorial race in Georgia, where hospitals and drug stores are closing across the...
More infoWill Feds Beat Georgia To An Answer On Surprise Medical Billing?
By Andy Miller – Georgia Health News, WABE The legislative effort to end surprise medical bills has repeatedly led to stalemates – and frustration – at the Georgia General Assembly. Surprise billing occurs when consumers have procedures or visit ERs...
More infoShe thought her ER charges had been waived. Then she got a $1,200 bill in the mail
By Samantha Max – The Telegraph When Joni Mickey went to the emergency room in March 2017, she thought she was having a heart attack. The 60-year-old had been experiencing chest pains, and she rushed to Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins for...
More infoTreatment first, payment later — that’s the law at the ER
By Samantha Max – The Telegraph Are emergency response personnel, such as paramedics, allowed to question patients about their ability to pay for service in the U.S.? That was the question posed to us by a reader through Macon Me Curious, a new...
More infoA Middle Georgia hospital is suing patients for unpaid bills
By Samantha Max – The Telegraph When Warner Robins attorney Clifford Carlson started taking debt collection cases, one of his first clients was fighting a civil suit against Houston Healthcare. The client told Carlson that an ambulance took him to...
More infoA Look at Georgia’s Coverage Gap
By Daniel Thomas, Volunteer As part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), millions of Americans gained coverage through the implementation of Marketplaces for health insurance and Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion was meant to be a national policy as part...
More infoAmid opioid crisis, drug-abusing nurses get secret sanctions
By Johnny Edwards – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The nurse was seen on duty at the hospital with red, dilated eyes, her speech slurred, her behavior drowsy. Trusted to care for people at their most vulnerable and fragile, instead she had taken...
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