A Run of Fatal Airline Crashes Upends Sterling Safety Record
By , Julie Johnsson, and Gabrielle Coppola
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A spate of deadly airline crashes has tarnished the industry's sterling track record, fraying the nerves of travelers and prompting questions about how the world's safest form of transportation can respond.
The tragedies began on Christmas Day when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Days later, an aircraft operated by Jeju Air Co. skidded down a runway in South Korea and smashed into a concrete wall, causing 179 deaths. The two accidents turned 2024 into the deadliest year in commercial aviation since 2018, after no fatalities at all on large passenger jetliners in 2023.
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5 days ago
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This man had a heart attack while traveling. He owed almost $78,000.
On Christmas Day at the WaTiki indoor water park, Hans Wirt was getting winded from following his son up the stairs to the waterslides. Wirt's breathing became more labored once they returned to the nearby hotel where they and Wirt's girlfriend were staying while visiting family in Rapid City, South Dakota. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Then he grew nauseated and went pale. Wirt thought the cause might have been the altitude change between his home in Deltona, Florida - 33 feet above sea level - and Rapid City, at the edge of the Black Hills. But his 12-year-old son was worried and called for an ambulance. 'I could tell by the look in his eyes that there was something a little more to this,' Wirt said. 'So I can kind of thank my son for saving my life.' It turned out the 62-year-old was having a heart attack. A 'lousy Christmas present,' Wirt said. Medics stabilized Wirt before taking him to Monument Health - the only hospital in Rapid City with an emergency room - where he was treated over two days. Then the bill came. - - - The medical procedure Paramedics used a defibrillator to restore a normal heart rhythm. Doctors at the hospital gave Wirt various medications, used an electrocardiograph and other diagnostic and monitoring devices, and inserted stents into his arteries to improve blood flow to his heart. - - - The final bill $95,523.73, including $32,998.90 for medical supplies, mostly related to the stents, and $28,879 for treatment in a cardiac catheterization lab. After unspecified hospital adjustments to the bill, Wirt owed $77,574.44. - - - The billing problem Wirt is covered by Florida's Medicaid program through Sunshine Health, a managed-care plan. But the South Dakota hospital refused to submit the bill to his out-of-state Medicaid plan, instead sending it to Wirt and eventually threatening to send the debt to a collection agency. Medicaid, the government health insurance program primarily for low-income people and those with disabilities, is jointly funded by the federal government and states. States are responsible for administering Medicaid, and most contract with private insurance companies like Sunshine Health. Federal law says state Medicaid programs must reimburse out-of-state hospitals for beneficiaries' care in an emergency. Many hospitals bill out-of-state Medicaid plans in such situations. If they don't, they risk not being reimbursed at all, since Medicaid recipients probably won't be able to afford large bills, said Katy DeBriere, who was legal director for the Florida Health Justice Project when she spoke with KFF Health News in April. But there's no federal law that requires them to do so, she said. Federal court opinions have noted that hospitals are not required to bill Medicaid for every individual beneficiary they treat, even if they generally accept Medicaid. Monument Health didn't bill Wirt's insurance because the hospital isn't enrolled as a health-care provider with Florida Medicaid, said hospital spokesperson Stephany Chalberg. She told KFF Health News that Monument bills Medicaid plans only in South Dakota and four bordering states: Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and Minnesota. The hospital's website says Medicaid patients who are not enrolled in one of those states 'are responsible for any charges.' 'Due to the significant credentialing requirements of our multiple hospitals and hundreds of physicians we do not participate with all states,' a hospital representative wrote in a message to Wirt. According to Florida's Medicaid website, out-of-state providers that have treated one of its enrollees must submit five documents to bill the program, including a six-page application, a copy of the provider's license and a claim form. The process is different in each state, and many Medicaid programs reimburse out-of-state providers at lower rates than those that are in-state, according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a federal agency that advises Congress. Provider enrollment barriers leave 'beneficiaries in an untenable situation, preventing them from accessing the coverage to which they are legally entitled,' Chalberg said. Wirt decided to submit his bill to his Medicaid plan on his own. But he said Sunshine Health told him it can process only bills received directly from providers. Elizabeth Boyd, a spokesperson for Sunshine Health, told KFF Health News that its staff contacted the hospital on Wirt's behalf. She did not respond when asked why the plan can't process bills submitted by patients or what more it could have done to help Wirt. - - - The resolution A few days after KFF Health News emailed officials at Monument Health for this story, Wirt noticed his balance due fell from more than $77,000 to $0. Chalberg told KFF Health News that Monument Health covered Wirt's bill through its charity care program. She said that 'appropriate patients' are told about the program and that 'before any bill is sent to collections, it is evaluated to determine whether the patient may qualify for our financial assistance policy.' To retain tax-exempt status, nonprofit hospitals must have programs that provide free or discounted care to patients who can't afford their bills. But Wirt said that when he first contacted Monument Health after receiving his bill and said he couldn't afford to pay it, officials didn't mention the program. He said they didn't share any resources when he asked whether there were outside groups that could help him pay the bill. Wirt said hospital officials just recommended setting up a payment plan, but the monthly bills were still too high for him to afford. 'There's a reason why I'm on Medicaid,' Wirt said. 'It's just beyond me how they can expect somebody who had Medicaid to come up with that kind of money. It's unrealistic.' - - - The takeaway Sarah Somers, legal director at the National Health Law Program, said the various 'cogs in the Medicaid system' didn't operate correctly in Wirt's situation. 'Nobody's exerting themselves enough to just smooth the way for this person.' States are responsible for managing Medicaid and are, therefore, the main 'cog,' Somers said. She said Medicaid managed-care companies also are supposed to intervene. Somers and DeBriere said Medicaid recipients who receive bills they don't think they owe should file a complaint with their state's Medicaid program and, if they have one, their managed-care plan. They can also ask whether there is a Medicaid or managed-care caseworker who can advocate on their behalf. The attorneys said patients should also contact a legal aid clinic or a consumer protection firm that specializes in medical debt. DeBriere said those organizations can help file complaints and communicate with the hospital. DeBriere said that had she assisted Wirt, she would have immediately sent a letter to Monument Health ordering it to stop billing him and to either register with Florida Medicaid to submit his bill or offer him charity care. Wirt said the doctors who treated him and the medical care he received at Monument Health were excellent. He said he spoke out about the hospital's billing practices because he doesn't want others to endure the same experience. 'If I get sick and have a heart attack, I have to be sure that I do that here in Florida now instead of some other state,' he joked. - - - KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF - the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by KFF Health News and The Washington Post's Well+Being that dissects and explains medical bills. Related Content Despite ceasefire, India and Pakistan are locked in a cultural cold war Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil's detention ruled likely unconstitutional The D.C. plane crash took her mom and sister. She turned to her piano.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
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Controversial parking charges set for beauty spots
Controversial plans to introduce parking charges at three Birmingham and Worcestershire beauty spots are set to go ahead. Birmingham City Council said it will implement the charges - despite a "significant" proportion of residents who took part in a consultation not being in favour of it - at a meeting on Tuesday. The council has slightly revised part of the original proposals, to be introduced at Sutton Park, Lickey Hills Country Park, and Sheldon Country Park. Residents told the BBC they were concerned visitors of the parks will avoid the charges by parking in the local area and "clog up the roads". The original proposals said all three parks would cost visitors £2.20 for up to two hours, £3.30 for two to four hours, and £5.00 all day between 09:00 BST and 17:00 BST, 365 days a year. The revised plans for Sutton Park and Lickey Hills Country Park have now changed to £1 per hour up to four hours and £5.00 all day. Sheldon Country Park has been decreased to £0.75 per hour up to three hours and £3.50 all day. The new proposal also stated that a yearly pass will cost £52.00 for all three parks, alongside the introduction of a 30-minute "grace" period. The BBC spoke to concerned park-goers and residents who live nearby to Lickey Hills Country Park about the charges. Paul Lowe called the move "disappointing". He said: "I'm here most days in the morning and evening. So to be charged - I wouldn't come here anymore. "Charging people to walk around parks defeats the object." Gregg Fanning, a resident of Monument Lane, said he understood why the council needed the money, but it will make the area "dangerous". He said: "The problem will be people will just start parking on the road. Its a narrow road and its a 40-mile-per-hour speed limit - its going to be dangerous and completely clog up this road." Mr Fanning added that he hoped the council will stick to their word during the consultation process that local roads would have double yellow lines installed. But resident Bob Suggitt says, even if the council did, they would not make a difference unless policed by enforcement officers. He added: "The car parks are used comprehensively during the summer. All the people will avoid the charges and park on the roads. "It's already a problem but it'll be far worse when the charges come in." Councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, said the charges for the three beauty spots were "modest". "This project is about our ability to invest in our parks so that they are fit for the future," the Labour councillor said. He went on to say the council has "listened carefully to the community" by revising the charges. But opposition councillors called for the Labour administration to rethink its plans, with Robert Alden highlighting how the proposals were for 365 days a year and therefore "not even allowing free parking on Christmas Day". He continued: "There's recognition in the report that [Sutton Park and Lickey Hills] are located in wealthier neighbourhoods. "Of course, the people who will actually drive to those parks are not the people who live right next door to them. "It is in fact them being hit with the charge, not the wealthiest people in the city." Referring to the results of a consultation, he added: "The public have been very clear they don't agree with this and the cabinet should drop this policy." A council report stated that for Lickey Hills Country Park, 919 respondents of the consultation (78.4 per cent) felt access to the park should remain free. For Sheldon Country Park, that figure was 120 respondents (65.9 per cent), while for Sutton Park it was 2,741 respondents (68.2 per cent). But both Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors plan to challenge the decision through a formal "call-in", hoping to convince the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to reverse Labour's decision. This news story has been gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Plans for parking charges at beauty spots 'unfair' Birmingham City Council
Yahoo
28-04-2025
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Gov. DeSantis announces 2025 red snapper season
DESTIN, Fla. (WFLA) — Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference Monday morning in Destin to announce the 2025 Gulf red snapper season. DeSantis said this season will be the longest in the state's history, at 126 combined days of fishing. The Gulf red snapper population is carefully managed by state authorities and the dates each year vary based on the current state of the population. 2025 Gulf red snapper recreational fishing season: Memorial Day Weekend: May 24-26 June 1-July 31 September 1-14 Veterans Day: November 11 Thanksgiving weekend: November 27-30 Christmas Day After September 14, recreational fishing will transition to three-day weekends through the end of the year, including opportunities on Veterans Day, Thanksgiving weekend, and Christmas. DeSantis said that fishing of the Atlantic red snapper is still regulated by the federal government, but that he is working with the Trump administration to allow the state to manage it like it does the Gulf red snapper. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
