Lockdown orders during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a massive increase in unemployment, leaving millions of workers without employer-sponsored health insurance, according to a report published earlier this year by the Commonwealth Fund. Those early days of the pandemic also saw about one-third of adults falling…more.
During the month of August, Real World Health Care will take a short break from focusing on medical breakthroughs and the researchers who are shaping the future of medicine. We will instead bring you a special series from our sponsor, the HealthWell Foundation, about what happens when families cannot afford…more.
Editor’s Note: Real World Healthcare will be taking a brief hiatus during the month of August. During this time, we’d like to share with you some of the compelling stories we’ve published about patients facing both medical and financial hardships.: Charlie Barron was raised to set goals, make plans, get…more.
After more than two decades of being covered under employer-sponsored medical plans, my consultant husband and I (a freelance writer) are now in the position of having to purchase our own health coverage. We both have found the online Health Insurance Marketplace fairly easy to navigate. After entering our zip…more.
Cancer Doesn’t Care. It doesn’t care that a patient can’t afford pain medication or the expense of getting to a treatment center. Cancer Doesn’t Care that some patients are forced to drain their child’s college savings fund or choose between an imaging scan and buying groceries. Cancer Doesn’t Care. Do…more.
“You have cancer.” Those devastating words send chills through us all. As the initial shock subsides the reality of unanticipated expense deals a second, unwelcome blow. We know from assisting more than 70,000 cancer patients with the cost of their treatments just how financially overwhelming and destructive a cancer diagnosis can…more.
While a main precept of the Affordable Care Act is to expand access to health care, in some cases that improved access means more patients are being treated with medications that come with a cost. As a pharmacist, I have to be an insurance sleuth, use common sense, and teach…more.
Health care has never been more highly politicized than today. Last year, it was central to the third longest government shutdown in U.S. history. This week, it consumed a large chunk of President Obama’s State of the Union address. Every day, we are inundated by news of health exchange website…more.
In recent days the Obama Administration has been intensifying outreach efforts to increase the number of young people who enroll for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before the March 31, 2014 deadline. During a speech in Boston on Oct. 30, President Obama pushed back against criticism of…more.
Cyndi from Midland, TX didn’t know how she was going to pay for the asthma medication her son Ethan desperately needed. Feeling like nothing was going right and not knowing where to turn, she was on the verge of losing hope. Then something dramatic happened that would change everything. Cyndi…more.