Big companies rake in profits while doctors are saddled with yet another cost in a burdensome health care system.

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The Big Story
Mon. Aug 14, 2023

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The Hidden Fee Costing Doctors Millions Every Year <[link removed]> A powerful lobbyist convinced a federal agency that doctors can be forced to pay fees on money that health insurers owe them. Big companies rake in profits while doctors are saddled with yet another cost in a burdensome health care system. by Cezary Podkul

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How the Insurance Industry Denies Coverage to Patients

How Often Do Health Insurers Say No to Patients? No One Knows. <[link removed]> Insurers’ denial rates — a critical measure of how reliably they pay for customers’ care — remain mostly secret to the public. Federal and state regulators have done little to change that. by Robin Fields <[link removed]>

How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them <[link removed]> Internal documents and former company executives reveal how Cigna doctors reject patients’ claims without opening their files. “We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said. by Patrick Rucker, Maya Miller and David Armstrong <[link removed]>

UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings. <[link removed]> After a college student finally found a treatment that worked, the insurance giant decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims. by David Armstrong, Patrick Rucker and Maya Miller <[link removed]>

Health Insurance Claim Denied? See What Insurers Said Behind the Scenes <[link removed]> Learn how to request your health insurance claim file, which can include details about what your insurer is saying about you and your case. by Maya Miller, with additional reporting by Patrick Rucker and David Armstrong <[link removed]>

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Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel <[link removed]> The fullest accounting yet shows how Thomas has secretly reaped the benefits from a network of wealthy and well-connected patrons that is far more extensive than previously understood. by Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski <[link removed]>

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We Carry the Burden of Repatriating Our Ancestors. Here’s What It’s Like to Report on the Process as an Indigenous Journalist. <[link removed]> Mary Hudetz describes the financial cost and emotional distress that tribal communities face as they continue to wait for the return of the remains of their ancestors, thousands of which are held in museums across the country. by Mary Hudetz <[link removed]>

How Social Media Apps Could Be Fueling Homicides Among Young Americans <[link removed]> As shooting rates among the young remain stratospheric, evidence suggests social media is serving as an accelerant to violence. Taunts that once could be forgotten now live on before large audiences, prompting people to take action. by Alec MacGillis <[link removed]>

Bullied by Her Own Party, a Wisconsin Election Official’s GOP Roots Mean Nothing in Volatile New Climate <[link removed]> In the face of repeated calls to back Donald Trump's bogus claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Marge Bostelmann of the Wisconsin Elections Commission remains resolute: “I’m a Republican who stands up for the truth and not for a lie.” by Megan O’Matz and Mariam Elba <[link removed]>

EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime <[link removed]> An EPA document shows that a new Chevron fuel ingredient has a lifetime cancer risk more than 1 million times higher than what the agency usually finds acceptable — even greater than another Chevron fuel’s sky-high risk disclosed earlier this year. by Sharon Lerner <[link removed]>

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