Health Care

The cost of healthcare: See 5 takeaways on how we're paying for it

Stories by Miami Herald journalists, with AI summarization

Paying the bill for healthcare can be a challenge.

In coverage below, see stories on the problem of short-term health plans, as seen through a case where a patient ended up with a $7,000 bill for a colonoscopy. Another article discusses how Obamacare fraud persists, with some enrollees facing unauthorized plan changes, indicating gaps in regulatory protection. And see how some hospitals' financial assistance programs fail to cover all services.

In hindsight, Tim Winard says, he had not understood the difference between Affordable Care Act policies and short-term plans. His advice? Don’t rely solely on marketing materials and always get a cost estimate before a nonemergency procedure. By Jamie Kelter Davis

NO. 1: HE HAD SHORT-TERM HEALTH INSURANCE. HIS COLONOSCOPY BILL? $7,000

Here’s how this medical drama played out. | Published April 1, 2025 | Read Full Story by Julie Appleby

Adelaide Tovar, a postdoctoral geneticist at the University of Michigan, prepares cell samples in a science laboratory on campus. Tovar is one of about 200 young scientists who will lose research funding because the Trump administration abruptly ended the National Institute of Health’s MOSAIC grant program. By Mike Hawkins

NO. 2: AS A DIVERSITY GRANT DIES, YOUNG SCIENTISTS FEAR IT WILL HAUNT THEIR CAREERS

What to know about the fallout in medical research. | Published May 1, 2025 | Read Full Story by Brett Kelman

At least 5.4 million U.S. children are family caregivers to older people. Challenges include the role of Medicaid.

NO. 3: MILLIONS OF KIDS ARE CAREGIVERS FOR ELDERS. WHY THEIR NUMBERS MIGHT GROW

“For kids, it’s important for them to know they’re not alone,” said Julia Belkowitz, a pediatrician and an associate professor at the University of Miami who has studied student caregivers. | Published June 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by Leah Fabel

Medical debt continues to grow as hospital financial assistance fails to cover all patients, leaving many to navigate costly medical billing challenges.

NO. 4: LOOPHOLES IN HOSPITAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MEAN PATIENTS GET STUCK WITH THE BILL

Quinn Cochran-Zipp went to the emergency room three times with severe abdominal pain before doctors figured out she had early-stage cancer in the germ cells of her right ovary. | Published September 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michelle Andrews

Applicants in Miami line up at a mall to register for Obamacare in 2014.

NO. 5: OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT FRAUD? SEE RISKS OF PLAN-SWITCHING AND IMPERSONATIONS

Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. | Published December 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Julie Appleby

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.