Latest KFF Health News Stories
New Rule Allows Employers To Increase The Use Of Wellness Incentives
The final regulation gives businesses more leeway to tie workers’ premium costs to efforts to get them to use more healthy behaviors, such as increasing exercise or quitting smoking.
Current Policies For Small Businesses, Individuals May Not Meet Health Law Standards
Officials fear that when these plans are cancelled, it could cause confusion. Also, The Wall Street Journal offers a look at the issues confronting small business owners.
Calif.’s High Court Weighs Who Can Administer Insulin Shots In School
The justices appear cool to the idea that only licensed nurses should be able to give the shots, despite arguments by the state nurses association.
Republicans Double Down On IRS Role In Carrying Out Health Law
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he plans to focus on the need to repeal Obamacare in light of the IRS targeting scandal, while witnesses at an IRS hearing Wednesday posed sometimes ticklish questions about how the health law’s individual mandate will be enforced.
Viewpoints: Obamacare Is Already Working; George W. Bush On ‘Personal Responsibility’
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Competition, Narrow Networks Key To Exchange Premiums
California Healthline reports that among the reasons for Covered California’s lower-than-expected insurance rates are the inclusion of plans that exclude some of the state’s best-known providers, while the Washington Post wonders how competition can work in New Hampshire’s online marketplace where only one plan may sell policies.
Immigrants Help Medicare Stay Solvent, Study Finds
Immigrants to the U.S. contributed $115.2 billion more to Medicare’s Hospital Trust Fund during the past decade than they withdrew, casting doubt on criticism they overburden the health plan for the elderly and disabled, according to a study by researchers from Harvard and the City University of New York.
For Family Caregivers, Older Americans Act Provides Help
PBS reports on this legislation, which is not well known.
A selection of health policy stories from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Idaho, Oregon and Florida.
Study Finds Health Law Is Helping Protect Young Adults From High Bills
The RAND Corp. research finds that the law’s provision allowing children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ health plans resulted in $147 million in hospital bills to be covered by insurance.
Longer Reads: How To Choose A Hospital; Empowered Patients Cost More; The ‘War On Sleep’
This week’s articles come from The Atlantic, Time, The New Yorker, Forbes and Slate.
N.Y. Hospital Alleged To Have Pressured Heiress For Donations
The New York Times reports that survivors of a copper heiress who lived in the Beth Israel Medical Center for the last 20 years of her life say she was coerced to give the hospital money.
Medicaid Expansion: Ariz. Foes Look To Voter Referendum, N.H. Fight Brewing
Meanwhile, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown tells county officials that the state cannot afford to “double-pay” as he seeks to expand California’s health care program for the poor, and New Hampshire lawmakers set up a fight over the expansion.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations include stories about a new study on immigrants’ financial impact on the Medicare program and a new federal regulation on wellness programs.
Study: Health Law Protected Young Adults From High Hospital Bills
Researchers at the RAND Corporation set out to find some hard data on one aspect of the health law: Does having medical insurance protect young adults from the financial ruin that often comes with a major injury or illness? The quick answer: Yes, it does. Since September 2010, the Affordable Care Act has allowed young […]
Final Rule Upholds Increased Rewards, Penalties For Wellness Participation
Employers will be able to increase rewards to workers who participate in wellness programs under final rules released Wednesday by the Obama administration. The final rules, similar to those proposed in November as part of the Affordable Care Act, have raised concerns among advocates who represent people with chronic or severe illnesses, as well as […]
Immigrants Contribute More To Medicare Than They Take Out, Study Finds
Immigrant workers are helping buttress Medicare’s finances, say researchers, because they contribute tens of billions of dollars a year more than immigrant retirees use in medical services.
Final Rule Upholds Increased Rewards, Penalties For Wellness Participation
Employers will be able to increase rewards to workers who participate in wellness programs under final rules released Wednesday by the Obama administration.
House GOP Members Unveil Draft ‘Doc Fix’ Plan
The plan would repeal the contentious SGR formula for reimbursing doctors but does not include a way to pay for that. Also in the House, a Democrat and a Republican introduce a bill to create national exercise guidelines.
Study Details Medicare Spending Variations
The analysis finds health differences explain as much as 85 percent of cost variations around the country.