Latest KFF Health News Stories
Despite Some Success, State Health Exchanges Get Mixed Reviews
Though most of the state-run online insurance marketplaces have not been hobbled by the same types of difficulties that marred the federal exchange’s launch, some states are successfully enrolling their residents while others still confront hurdles.
Two Calif. Residents File Suit Against Anthem Blue Cross Over Cancellations
In California and nationwide, millions of people have received insurance cancellation notices of their individual health plans, triggering new criticism of the health law. Kaiser Health News reports that Blue Shield will delay cancellations for some policy holders. Meanwhile, The Fiscal Times attempt to explain why insurance companies are cancelling plans.
Who’s Signing Up On Exchanges, And What’s Available, Trigger Questions
News outlets report on health law implementation issues, such as an early indication that customers on the marketplace tend to be older and how that could impact insurance prices for everyone.
State Highlights: Calif. Hospital Chain Settles Anesthesia Billing Suit
A selection of health policy news from California, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas and North Carolina.
17 Million People Eligible For Premium Subsidies, Study Finds
Seventeen million people who are now uninsured or who buy their own health insurance will be eligible for tax credits next year to help purchase coverage on the health law’s online marketplaces or exchanges, according to an analysis released Tuesday. More than a third of those people live in just three states: California with nearly […]
Obama Pledges Campaign To Make Sure Health Law Works
As part of an effort to reframe the national discussion, President Barack Obama appeared before health law supporters at an Organizing For Action summit, asking them to help spread the word “far and wide” about the overhaul’s good news.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Obama Administration Worried Over Paper Applications When Healthcare.gov Problems Persisted
A myriad of issues related to enrolling people in the health law’s insurance marketplaces include new revelations that officials worried that allowing people to fill out paper applications for coverage on the federal marketplace would bring its own problems. Other issues examined include the roles of exchange call centers, “navigators,” and other paid or volunteer workers.
Dems, GOP Both Consider Bills To Let People Keep Their Health Coverage
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle consider legislation that would allow people to keep the health insurance coverage they had that was canceled as a result of the health law. Elsewhere, Virginia’s governor race continues to hinge on the candidates’ stances on the law, and Senate Democrats may allow a vote on legislation that would end health law subsidies for lawmakers and their aides.
Calif. Nonprofit Provides Grant To Get TV Shows To Include Stories About Health Law
The California Endowment is giving $500,000 to ensure TV episodes add stories about the need to enroll in health coverage under the health law.
Tavenner To Testify Before Senate Panel Today On Website Problems
In prepared testimony, she says improvements are being made each day to the site and she still thinks it will be working by the end of the month.
Johnson & Johnson To Pay $2.2 Billion Fine To Resolve Drug Marketing Case
The government alleged that the drug company and its subsidiaries promoted psychiatric medications for uses that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
SCOTUS Won’t Hear Appeal Seeking To Reinstate Okla. Abortion Law
The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to hear an appeal seeking to reinstate an Oklahoma law that would effectively ban abortion-inducing drugs. In Texas, opponents of an abortion law are appealing to the Supreme Court to reinstate their injunction against the law that requires those performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
Blue Shield of California Delays Cancellations for Some Individual Policyholders
Threatened with a legal action from the state, company says 80,000 customers can keep their plans through March 31.
First Edition: November 5, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including continuing coverage of the implementation issues that are plaguing the health law, as well as President Barack Obama’s pledge to campaign for the overhaul’s success.
Call Centers Got Big Contracts From Health Law, But How Big Is Unclear
The contractor running Connecticut’s call center for its health insurance marketplace doesn’t have to reveal how its pricing works.
Study Points To “Imbalance” In Spending On Doctor Training
Florida and New York have roughly the same population, but New York has five times as many Medicare-sponsored residency training positions and seven times the Medicare funding graduate medical education. The numbers give a glimpse into the “imbalance” in how Medicare distributes its $10 billion a year for graduate medical education (GME), according to a study […]
Oregon’s State Exchange May Be Worse Than Healthcare.gov
Not a single person is enrolled yet in Oregon, where 7,300 applications have been filed, all on paper.
For Many Workers, It’s Time To Consider Insurance Options
Fall is generally the time when many people who get insurance through their job re-enroll. Higher deductibles and dependent care costs, and financial incentives for wellness activities, lead trends.
N.Y. Hospital Group Turns The Tables On Hospital Graders
Judge not, that ye be not judged. Irked by the growing number of report cards assessing the quality of hospitals, a New York state hospital association has taken this biblical admonition to heart by putting out a report card grading the quality of hospital graders. Five of the 10 report cards that were evaluated were given […]