JENNA GREEN, of Mansfield, was 31, active, and running a small business when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A neurologist prescribed a medication, but the day she scheduled an infusion, her insurance denied coverage. The insurer wanted her to try another drug first, and only if that failed to use the newer, more expensive […]
Health Insurance
Posted inOpinion
Insurance should cover full cost of pregnancy
IN MASSACHUSETTS, we pride ourselves on our healthcare leadership — the first state to achieve near-universal health insurance coverage, home to some of the most celebrated healthcare institutions in the world, at the forefront of efforts to address racial disparities, ensure access to comprehensive reproductive care, and more. But underneath that legacy of progress are […]
Posted inOpinion
Gas lockout endangers everyone
LAST FALL, NATIONAL GRID employee Scott Ambler helped prevent what could have been a potentially devastating gas explosion in Weymouth. Ambler was not assigned to the job; instead he was passing by the site when he noticed water contractors digging around what they thought was a water pipe, but which Ambler knew immediately was a […]
Posted inOpinion
Middlemen drive up patient drug costs
AS LEADERS OF organizations dealing with two of the most difficult chronic conditions to treat – hemophilia and HIV/AIDS – we consistently hear stories about how patients living with these diseases are given the run around by insurers to obtain affordable access to the medications they need to manage their diseases. It’s an uphill battle; […]
Posted inOpinion
Cost barriers rise for patients
THERE SEEMS TO be a new story each day about how patients across the country are being treated unfairly by their health insurance company. Chances are, you or someone you love has been through something like this. These are patients who have done the right thing, worked hard, paid their premiums, and expected that when […]
Posted inHealth Care
BI-Lahey merger gets a break on cost growth
STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS stripped language from a document that would have required the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health to prove they’ll meet legislatively mandated cost growth benchmarks, a requirement officials made sure was adopted as part of the recent merger between Partners HealthCare and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker hits some turbulence
Suddenly, Gov. Charlie Baker doesn’t seem so invulnerable. He may still be the most popular governor in the country, but over the last few weeks Baker has hit some serious turbulence. An agency he controls botched the rollout of a new approach to health insurance for 430,000 state and municipal workers. Then his administration awarded […]