Articles written by tom murphy
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Walmart offers way to turn leftover opioids into useless gel
Walmart is helping customers get rid of leftover opioids by giving them packets that turn the addictive painkillers into a useless gel. The retail giant said Wednesday that it will provide the packets free with opioid prescriptions filled at its...
What to look for as 'Obamacare' 2018 enrollment opens
A new deadline, rising prices and fewer options for help will greet health insurance shoppers as the Affordable Care Act's main enrollment window opens Wednesday. Also in store: Befuddlement. "Confusion seems to be one of the key words to describe...
Trump health coverage alternatives may pose risk to the sick
The White House is working on a plan that could bring more health insurance choices and cheaper options to people buying individual and small business coverage. But the bill for this might be paid by the sick. Senior administration officials have...
Buyer beware: Long-term care costs are surging
Long-term care costs are surging again and the most expensive option — a private nursing home room — may soon top $100,000 per year. Growing labor expenses and sicker patients helped push the median cost of care that includes adult day care and ass...
Health benefit offers from small businesses keep vanishing
Only half of America's smallest businesses now offer health coverage to their workers because many say steady cost hikes have made it too expensive to afford a benefit that nearly all large employers still provide. The Kaiser Family Foundation said...
How to tell if the price is right on your next prescription
Filling a prescription is no longer the simple errand you run after a doctor visit. With drug prices rising and insurance coverage shrinking, it pays to ask questions and do a little research before handing over your insurance card at the pharmacy...
Obama's health care law still needs some patchwork
The health care law of the land has survived for now, but it needs help — and it needs it soon. Soaring prices and fewer choices may greet customers when they return to the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces this fall, in part because i...
Higher prices, fewer options lurk after health bill collapse
The health care law of the land has survived for now, but it needs help — and it needs it soon. Soaring prices and fewer choices may greet customers when they return to the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces this fall, in part because i...
Government health insurance markets holding up--barely
Enough insurers are planning to sell coverage on the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges next year to keep them working — if only barely — in most parts of the country. Competition in many markets has dwindled to one insurer — or none in some...
Key insurer Centene plans to expand health exchange presence
Health insurer Centene announced plans Tuesday to expand into more Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges for next year, at a time when competitors are either pulling back from those markets or proposing steep price hikes to remain. The insurer...
Newly insured fret over gains made under US health care law
Dawn Erin went nearly 20 years without health insurance before the Affordable Care Act, bouncing between free clinics for frequent and painful bladder infections. The liver-destroying disease hepatitis C made her ineligible for coverage until...
Insurers continue to hike prices, abandon ACA markets
People shopping for insurance through the Affordable Care Act in yet more regions could face higher prices and fewer choices next year as insurance companies lay out their early plans for 2018. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is asking...
Pre-existing conditions and the health plan: Who's covered?
The Republican push to replace the Affordable Care Act was revived this week in Congress by a small change to their plan designed to combat concerns over coverage for those with pre-existing health problems. The change helped get the bill through...
AP FACT CHECK: Are pregnancy, rape pre-existing conditions?
Pregnancy, sexual assault and domestic violence could be considered "pre-existing conditions" that make it hard to keep insurance coverage under the Republican health care bill, according to a number of news articles and social media posts. The bill...
Appeals court upholds decision to block Anthem bid for Cigna
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday left in place a decision blocking Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Anthem's bid to buy rival Cigna, saying that a bigger company is not better for consumers. The 2-1 decision upholds a federal j...
How Trump insurance changes could affect coverage next year
A much tighter sign-up deadline and coverage delays will be waiting for some health insurance customers now that President Donald Trump's administration has finished a plan designed to stabilize shaky insurance markets. Shoppers will have a shorter t...
Now what? Options for consumers as health law drama fades
As the political drama over health care legislation in Washington fades, the rest of the country faces a more immediate concern: Getting insurance for next year. The Republican health plan designed to replace the Obama-era health law known as the...
Health care's future: Turning patients into savers, shoppers
The U.S. government may soon lean on someone new to help lower health care costs: you. The idea is that when your money is on the line — and not the insurance company's — you'll look for the best value and do your part to curb national health car...
Why health care eats more of your paycheck every year
Millions of Americans are finding out this month that the price of their health insurance is going up next year — as it did this year, last year, and most of the years before that. And it's not just that the price is going up, it's that it goes up f...
Omnicare to shell out another $28M on kickback litigation
Omnicare will pay more than $28 million to resolve allegations that the drug distributor accepted kickbacks for pushing an anti-seizure medication on doctors treating nursing home patients. The Department of Justice said Monday that the deal...
