Latest KFF Health News Stories
AMA President Says Docs Group Will Do ‘Whatever We Can’ On The Health Law
In an interview, Ardis Dee Hoven, the American Medical Association’s new president, says that there is no formal role, but that the organization has been in touch with the Obama administration about how physicians can help patients get the information they need. Meanwhile, The Hill reports on a consumer survey that finds the health overhaul is not a consistent topic of conversation between doctors and patients.
Short On Funds, HHS Failed To Investigate 1,200 Fraud Cases Last Year
HHS was unable to investigate 1,200 cases of suspected Medicare or Medicaid fraud last year because the watchdog agency inside the department is stretched so thin.
UnitedHealthcare To Again Review Tricare Specialty Care Referrals
The Department of Defense will once again allow UnitedHealthcare to review and authorize every specialty care referral in Tricare. The insurer also notified California that it will no longer sell individual insurance in that state.
Political Responses Swirl Around Administration’s Announcement
As GOP lawmakers and health law critics gloat, administration officials say they are listening to concerns from business and being flexible.
State Exchanges Largely Unaffected By Delay In Employer Mandate
Officials in California and Minnesota say that neither the timing, nor the content of insurance coverage offered in their new online insurance marketplaces will be affected by the administration’s decision to suspend enforcement of penalties on large employers until 2015.
State Highlights: Fla. Hospices Get Close Scrutiny; Calif. Medi-Cal Provider Rate Bump Delayed
A collection of health policy stories from California, Florida, New York, Massachusetts and Missouri.
Weekend Reading: A Researcher’s Quest To Lower Suicide Rates
This week’s articles come from Newsweek, Wired, The New York Times and Atlantic.
Texas Abortion Bill Sent To Full Chamber
A Texas House committee approved sweeping abortion legislation early Wednesday, setting up a new fight on the proposal that would, along with other restrictions, ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The full chamber will take up the proposal early next week.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details about and reaction to the Obama administration announcement that it would delay the health law rule requiring businesses provide insurance to workers.
Lawmakers to NY Docs: Screen All Baby Boomers for Deadly Liver Disease
The New York legislature passed a bill that would make the state the first in the nation requiring doctors to offer the hepatitis C test to anyone born between 1945 and 1965.
Delay In Major Health Law Provision Raises Doubts At Critical Stage Of Rollout
The decision to give large employers an extra year to cover their workers was praised by business leaders but complicates the implementation.
Business Groups, Consumer Advocates, Politicians, Policy Makers React To Mandate Decision
Opponents of the federal health law, especially business groups and conservatives, were quick to praise the decision by the Obama administration to delay enforcing the employer mandate provision by one year. Some supporters said the decision would not create major problems.
Employers To Get An Extra Year To Implement Health Law Requirement On Coverage
In announcing the delay, the administration says it will give businesses time to comply and allow the government to consider simpler solutions.
Federal Rule Extends Subsidies For College Students
Beginning in 2014, most people, including students, will have to have health insurance, whether or not they are claimed as a dependent on their parents’ tax returns. The federal health law says if they don’t, they or their parents will face penalties. While expansion of coverage under the health law has helped about 3 million young […]
Administration Delays Health Law Requirement For Large Employers To Provide Coverage
The Treasury Department announced Tuesday evening that it will give businesses with more than 50 workers until 2015 to meet the law’s requirement to offer insurance.
Iowa, South Dakota Blues Skip Obamacare Exchange Next Year
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, with a long history of selling medical insurance directly to consumers, are expected to provide much of the subsidized coverage sold through the health law’s online marketplaces, or exchanges. “We expect Blue Cross Blue Shield plans will have a strong, reliable presence in the new exchanges,” Alissa Fox, a senior […]
Questions And Answers About Health Insurance Exchanges
The Associated Press reports the company operating call centers to help consumers navigate new online insurance marketplaces will add 120 jobs in eastern Iowa as part of a nationwide expansion. Other news outlets answer queries about the cost of insurance in those marketplaces, also called exchanges, which open for enrollment Oct. 1.
UnitedHealth To Leave California’s Individual Market At Year’s End
UnitedHealth is the second major company to announce its exit in advance of the changes that will take effect as a result of the health law. Meanwhile, Blues plans in Iowa and South Dakota announced plans to skip participation in those two states’ health exchanges in 2014.
IG Report: $543 Million In Medicare Overpayments Remain Uncollected
USA Today reports that the inspector general’s report noted that one of the factors keeping the government from recouping these funds was problems with a new accounting system. Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports that these types of overpayments are some of the most difficult to collect.
Long-Term Care Insurance: Industry Is Shrinking; Premiums Are Rising
The Wall Street Journal reports on long-term care insurance market trends.