Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Rules About Violence Against Health Workers Could Become A Model
New workplace health rules in California would go beyond existing safety standards by requiring private health care facilities to develop specific plans to mitigate risks of violence against workers.
Study Finds Significant Differences In Plans Sold On Or Off The Exchanges
Researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found more bronze and gold offerings off the exchange and better out-of-network options. But there are no subsidies.
Medicare Bars New ‘Seamless Conversion’ Efforts For Some Seniors
Some insurers have been allowed to move customers on the health law’s marketplaces into their Medicare Advantage plans when they become eligible for Medicare, but seniors complain they didn’t always know it was happening.
The Health Law: Rising Costs, Subsidies And Its Future Under The Next President
Affordable Care Act premiums will increase by an average of 25 percent next year, according to new reports. But more than 8 in 10 consumers could be cushioned from the price hikes through subsidies.
Viewpoints: Tweaks To Help Obamacare; Critical Moment For The ACA’s Marketplaces
A selection of opinions on the Affordable Care Act from around the country.
Longer Looks: Dr. Death; The Artificial Pancreas; And ‘Election Anxiety’
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Outlets report on health news from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona and California.
Medicaid Health Plan In Massachusetts Stops Taking New Members After Financial Losses
Neighborhood Health Plan, a subsidiary of Partners HealthCare, has lost $241 million since 2014. Meanwhile, a new study in Maryland finds that the Medicaid program spends twice as much on enrollees with diabetes than those who don’t have the condition.
Media outlets also report on cancer-causing heavy metal and tumors that grow on fetuses in the womb.
Nonprofit Groups, With U.S. And British Backing, To Test Infecting Mosquitos With Bacteria
The experiment will take place in cities in Brazil and Colombia over two to three years. Also, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Zika virus is in the U.S. to stay.
HIV’s Patient Zero Mythology Debunked
New genomic sequencing research shows that the virus has been in America a lot longer than previously thought.
VA’s Shift In Tactics On Painkillers Pays Off
Three years after an investigation exposed a dramatic rise in the number of opiate prescriptions at the agency, it has reduced the number by nearly 25 percent.
The One Controversial Scientist Behind VA’s Refusal To Cover Agent Orange-Related Sickness
Alvin Young’s nickname is Dr. Orange and he thinks veterans who complain about sickness that they think is related to a toxic herbicide used in the Vietnam War are simply “freeloaders,” making up ailments to “cash in” on the VA’s compensation system. And he’s also the one expert the military relies on to decide whether to compensate veterans.
Patients Terrified, Powerless As Doctors Flee Puerto Rico By The Hundreds
Up to 700 doctors are expected to leave Puerto Rico this year alone, double the number from two years ago.
Meanwhile, in California, Bernie Sanders rallies for Proposition 61, a ballot initiative that would place some limits on prescription drug prices. And pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts’ dealings with pharmaceutical companies are under scrutiny by federal investigators.
EpiPen Is Getting Competition Again — But It’s Unclear Whether That Will Curb Prices
At the time Auvi-Q was pulled from the market in 2015 — after reports that it was not delivering proper doses of epinephrine — it cost more than the EpiPen.
Vermont To Begin All-Payer ACO Project To Cover Medicare, Medicaid And Commercial Plans
The federal government is giving the state nearly $10 million to help start the experiment, which is designed to more directly reward the quality of care. Also, the nation’s largest private nursing home company has agreed to pay $145 million to resolve fraud lawsuits, and Kaiser Health News offers some tips about Medicare enrollment.
GOP Senate Candidates Capitalize On Premium Spikes In Hopes Of Holding On To Majority
Double-digit increases on Affordable Care Act plan premiums become a campaign issue in states with competitive Senate races, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Premium Spikes Reverberate Through The States
Media outlets in Maryland, Tennessee, Minnesota, Washington, Georgia and Illinois report on developments regarding the health law’s sharp rise in premiums costs.
For Millions, Paying Penalty For Not Having Coverage Is Lesser Of Two Evils
Many Americans are choosing to pay the fine, which is low in relation to what their premiums would be. One key adviser thinks that making the penalty higher would help fix some of the health law’s troubles.