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Jan 13, 2025 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
Imagine this: you need shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. If you choose to go through insurance, the “list price” is $27,000. But when you request to pay in cash, you’re offered a nearly $22,000 discount, so you only end up paying about $5,700. This happened to my brother a few months ago in Austin, Texas.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “safety net” as “something that provides security against misfortune or difficulty.” The emergency room is well-known as the “safety net” of the U.S. healthcare system. But most Americans don’t understand the limits of the ER and how it alone cannot be expected to provide the stopgap for a broken healthcare system. Recently I wrote about the Emergency Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
Regardless of the political stripes people wear, most Americans can agree on one thing about the healthcare system: it’s broken. Regardless of your insurance, healthcare costs are through the roof, it’s hard to get an appointment with the doctors you need, and we are among the worst performers in healthcare outcomes in developed countries despite outspending almost every other country. Even compared to lower-income countries, we don’t measure up well.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
jamanetwork.com | Yu-Chu Shen |Anthony Kim |Renee Y. Hsia
Key PointsQuestion Do rates of admission to certified stroke centers, receipt of thrombolytic therapy or mechanical thrombectomy, and mortality change for patients with stroke when a hospital near their community becomes stroke certified?
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
Last year, my friend Chelsi took her family to Tennessee for a summer vacation. While her 8-year-old son was in the hot tub, he curiously scooped up what he thought was a frog floating in the water but immediately dropped it in shock when he realized it was a small, live bat. It all happened so fast that her son wasn’t sure whether the bat had bitten or just nicked his hand as it flew away.
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Oct 8, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
From San Francisco to Miami to Baltimore, mayoral elections this fall will shape the future of American cities for decades to come. While many of these elections are focused on housing, homelessness, and public health, an overlooked approach that sits at the intersection of all three is access to legal representation. Many have argued that legal representation is a civil right; it may also be a fundamental public health necessity. Consider Michelle’s story.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
Across the country, from San Francisco to Boston and Chicago to Atlanta, hospitals have and continue to close emergency services or shut down completely. Not only is this happening in major urban areas, but also in rural communities that already face shortages in access to healthcare. What is the common thread? While many factors affect a hospital’s decision to stay open or close, the most common cause is financial.
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Sep 9, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
As an emergency room doctor, I’ve treated dozens, if not hundreds, of John Does. I’ve also treated several Elvis Presleys. As a health policy researcher, I’ve also heard of patients who fear giving the ER their real name because of the medical bills. In the United States, 4 in 10 Americans face medical debt, the average emergency room visit costs $2,453 ($646 out-of-pocket with private health insurance), and more than one-third of Americans can’t afford a $400 medical expense without borrowing.
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Aug 28, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
As the school year starts for millions in the United States, student debt may be top of mind for many students and parents. With several years of student debt forgiveness programs underway, the federal government has now also announced similar initiatives focusing on medical debt.
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Jul 30, 2024 | 
forbes.com | Renee Y. Hsia
I had woken up that morning around 2 a.m. with a stomachache, nausea, and vomiting. Knowing I needed to be in the hospital at 7 a.m. to work a shift and not wanting to call anyone in, I chalked it up to recent stress. A few hours later, I went to the hospital to take care of patients for the next 8 hours with mild but increasing discomfort in my right lower quadrant.
