Latest KFF Health News Stories
Middle-Class Earners Weigh Love And Money To Curb Obamacare Premiums
Ineligible for subsidies, a Tennessee woman quit her job to get an affordable health care premium. Conventional steps — such as maxing out your 401(k) contribution each year — may also do the job, financial planners say.
States — And 9M Kids — ‘In A Bind’ As Congress Dawdles On CHIP Funding
Congress let funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program expire in September, and despite bipartisan support for the program, states are facing the specter of having to prepare to wind down their programs.
California Winces At Trump’s Turn Back To ‘Bad Old Days’ Of Health Plan Associations
State leaders vow to protect consumers from a presidential order to resurrect a health plan model that they say could destabilize the insurance market.
With CHIP In Limbo, Here Are 5 Takeaways On The Congressional Impasse
The sticking point is not whether to keep the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program running but how best to raise the cash.
Viewpoints: Conway’s Role In Opioid Battle; Remembering Victims Of AIDS
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Perspectives On Health And Taxes: Individual Mandate In The Crosshairs; Impact On Medicaid
Opinion writers explore some of the health issues at play in the congressional debate over revamping the tax code.
Research Roundup: Cancer Survival; Transgender Health; High Deductibles
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Illinois, Iowa, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
States’ Anxiety Grows Regarding Dwindling Funds For Children’s Health Insurance Program
The program expired in September and, despite bipartisan support, Congress still has not reauthorized it. Several states are expected to shortly max out their remaining funds, causing worry for officials and the families that depend on CHIP.
Equal Access To Care? Report Finds Mental Health Parity Isn’t Reality Yet
“I was surprised it was this bad. As someone who has worked on parity for 10-plus years, I thought we would have done better,” said Henry Harbin, former CEO of Magellan Health. In other mental health news, the dwindling of long-term-care facilities and psychiatric beds over the past decade is leading to a public health crisis.
FDA Aims For Swifter Approvals Of Cancer Drugs With ‘Outsized’ Promise: Gottlieb
“We’re going to see more such cases, where a new drug offers an outsized survival benefit in a selected population of patients in a smaller, early-stage clinical trial,” Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb tells a House panel during a hearing on the 21st Century Cures Act.
Oxycontin Maker In Lawsuit ‘Negotiations’ With State Attorneys General
Purdue Pharma becomes the first opioid manufacturer to confirm discussions on suits filed by 41 states. Meanwhile, Minnesota county also plans lawsuits. In other news on the toll of the national opioid epidemic: more kids are being placed in foster care in large part due to parental drug abuse, and a Navy admiral wages a new battle after he lost his son to addiction.
CMS Considers Alternate Payment Models To Curb Costs On High-Price Treatments, Gene Therapy
“We are trying to do whatever we can to increase competition and give the (health insurance) plans more tools so that they can be better negotiators on our behalf,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma tells Reuters. In other CMS news: The agency officially ends two mandatory bundled-payment models and Verma also comments on 1332 waivers.
‘Time To Act Is Now’: Report Recommends Government Actions To Lower Drug Costs
Negotiating Medicare drug pricing and withdrawing tax deductions for pharmaceutical ads are among the steps the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s report urges the federal government to take soon.
Potential $66B Deal For CVS To Buy Aetna Would Create Mammoth Health Care Company
CVS Health Corp. may pay $200 to $205 per share to acquire Aetna Inc., the Wall Street Journal reports, but the deal isn’t final yet. In other industry news, Express Scripts’ CEO says the company isn’t shopping for its own insurer deal but is open to the idea, as well as partnering with Amazon.
A Closer Look At Trump’s Pick To Lead HHS
Alex Azar, President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Tom Price, spent three years on the board of the Indianapolis Airport Authority. During that time, he defended the behavior of its CEO, who came under fire for spending public money on everything from travel and steak dinners to Super Bowl tickets. Meanwhile, Azar is supportive of experimental Obamacare payment programs that Price ended.
Trump’s 3Q Salary Donation Earmarked For Opioid Epidemic Efforts
President Donald Trump gives $100,000 — his third-quarter presidential pay — to the Department of Health and Human Services, which will use the money on a public awareness campaign about opioid dangers.
ACA Enrollment Update: In Conn., Sign Up Estimates On Par With Last Year’s Numbers
People in one Virginia county that’s hard hit by premium hikes and other insurance-market instability are seeking answers and solutions now. Meanwhile, consumer advocates are focusing on some of the new types of insurance products that are emerging as people grapple with the rising costs.
In The Senate, Deal Making Surrounds GOP Leaders’ Efforts To Pass Tax Bill
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is scrambling to hold 50 votes on the bill, is making promises to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that the measure will not result in Medicare cuts and that he will advance separate legislation to stabilize the Obamacare insurance markets. But it is not clear how these assurances will play out in the House.
Republican Tax Bill Proves Congress Wasn’t Done With Health Policy
The GOP tax plan includes a range of health-related provisions — key among them is language that would eliminate the tax penalty created by the Affordable Care Act for not having health insurance. In addition, it threatens to trigger across-the-board cuts to Medicare and other domestic programs. A number of stakeholders and advocacy groups are expressing concerns about the impact of this and other changes that Republican lawmakers are advancing.