In this edition:

• 💡 Half of US adults don’t know they can fight insurance denials

• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Community health centers battle minimal staffing

• ⬆️ Alarming rise in young cancer deaths

• 🔒 Cybersecurity hiring gets more difficult

• And more!

Half don’t know they can fight insurance denials

Despite laws in states that aim to ensure people have access to affordable health care services, research shows that patients still receive unexpected medical bills and face insurance denials — and few of them choose to take action.

A new national survey report released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that fewer than half of people who experienced insurance denials and billing issues actually fought the decisions.

The biggest reason why? Because they didn’t know they had a right to do so in the first place.

New data from the nonprofit health care research foundation show that people who weren’t aware of their rights to challenge medical bills or coverage denials tended to be younger and have low or moderate incomes.

The report also looked at experiences and outcomes by race and ethnicity. Hispanic residents were also more likely to not know their rights in challenging bills or coverage decisions compared to Black and white residents.

States like Pennsylvania have worked to implement programs that encourage people to take action when they get denied coverage for care or get billed for potentially erroneous medical charges.