Latest KFF Health News Stories
Survey: Americans Have Low Health Insurance Literacy
Premium, deductible, copay, all basic health insurance terms many Americans don’t understand, according to a recent poll. More than half could not correctly define at least one of these common financial terms related to health insurance, according to poll results released by the American Institute of CPAs. Ernie Almonte, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA […]
HHS Will Allow ‘Unbanked’ People To Use Prepaid Debit Cards On Exchanges
At the urging of advocates for low-income consumers, the Obama administration said Wednesday that it is moving ahead with a rule requiring health plans accommodate households that do not have traditional bank accounts. One in four of the uninsured eligible for federal insurance subsidies does not have a bank account, according to a report released […]
In what the department described as its “first guidance” in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, HHS said that all Medicare Advantage enrollees, including same-sex couples, will have equal access to coverage in a nursing home. The Internal Revenue Service made a similar announcement today regarding tax filing by same-sex couples.
Group Health Omits Abortion Coverage In Plans Sold On Washington Exchange
The Seattle-based insurer and health provider won’t cover abortions in plans it will sell in the new online marketplace but says women will be able to get the procedure without paying more.
As Deficit Talks Resume, Health Law Funding Fight Escalates
News outlets report little optimism that talks between a group of Republican senators and the White House will resolve the impasse. Meanwhile, House Republicans are expected to use the battle over raising the debt limit as leverage to block the health law — either by stripping away its funds, or delaying implementation.
Bill Clinton Enlisted To Promote Health Law
The former president will speak about the overhaul Sept. 4 at his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark. Media outlets also explore the activities of two nongovernment groups reaching out to people who will be able to shop for insurance in new online marketplaces opening Oct. 1.
Longer Looks: Should Women Pay More Than Men For Insurance?
This week’s selections come from Slate, Salon, The Philadelphia Inquirer, American Medical News and Time.
AMA President Optimistic About A Fix For Medicare’s Doctor Payment Formula
Debated and despised, the Medicare physician payment formula may finally be on the way out — at least that’s what AMA President Ardis Hoven believes. Known as the “sustainable growth rate” or SGR, the formula routinely threatens double-digit payment reduction to doctors until Congress steps in at the last minute to stop the cuts. Currently a […]
Businesses are still trying to sort out many of the issues that come with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Poor People In At Least 21 States To Face Medicaid Coverage Gap
McClatchy reports that in most states opting against the health law’s Medicaid expansion, millions will be stranded without insurance: They will make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to get subsidies to help buy coverage on the new insurance marketplaces. Other news organizations report on the Michigan Senate’s decision to move ahead with expansion, but not until April, and on the continuing debate in Ohio.
Health Law Rules Aim To Protect Insurance Marketplace Funds, Consumers
The regulations are designed to safeguard how federal funds will be used in online insurance marketplaces and to provide protections to consumers. News outlets also detail a number of health law implementation issues, including a study about how rate shock warnings might be “overblown.”
Colorado Continues Preparing For Exchange Challenges
Meanwhile, researchers say that if Connecticut’s streamlined enrollment process works well, it could mean a significant jump in the number of people who gain insurance for the first time.
Poll: Americans Divided On Health Law But Oppose Defunding It
A majority of Americans don’t want to defund Obamacare, even as they remain divided on liking the law. The poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that 51 percent of Americans don’t understand how the law will affect them. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the Foundation.)
Some GOP Leaders Still Resist The Health Law, Others View It As Political Reality
News outlets offer varying takes on how governors and state leaders are interacting with the health law.
Some Insurers Refusing To Pay For Proton-Beam Cancer Therapy
Blue Shield of California joins two other insurers who contend that other cancer treatments are just as good, and far less expensive.
After Voting To Cut Payments To Dialysis Clinics, Many Lawmakers Seek A Reversal
On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers are rethinking the Medicare policy for kidney patients because clinics argue they may have to close or cut services. Elsewhere, the president of the American Medical Association is optimistic Congress will change Medicare’s payment formula, and a Republican senator wants all congressional staff to get coverage in Obamacare’s exchanges.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
States Search For, Reap Benefits From Programs To Lower Health Care Costs
Bloomberg explores the heavy financial toll of caring for a loved one with a disability. In the meantime, as states like Minnesota, Oklahoma and Florida see slower health care cost growth through implementing novel programs, others — like Nevada and Wisconsin — search for the magic tonic to lower their own costs.
State Highlights: Calif. Dems Propose Alternative Prison Care Plan
A selection of health policy stories from California, New York, Georgia, Massachusetts and Kansas.
First Edition: August 29, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about ongoing fiscal fights surrounding efforts to raise the nation’s debt limit and to defund the health law. Also, the White House enlists former President Bill Clinton to help spread the word about the overhaul.