Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

‘A Bill You Can Understand’: HHS Launches Design Competition To Transform Confusing Medical Bills

Morning Briefing

Medical bills are often filled with jargon and can come from different facilities, making it hard for patients to figure out what they really owe. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell wants to simplify it for consumers — and she’s asking for the public’s help.

Governors Join Growing Chorus Of Voices Calling For End To Zika Funding Impasse

Morning Briefing

The National Governors Association wrote a letter to Congress urging it find a compromise on funding to combat the virus and then “act as expeditiously as possible to ensure those funds are available to states, territories and the public at large.” Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s financial crisis could hamper its fight against Zika, a pregnant Connecticut teen has tested positive for the virus, and a county in Florida gets its first confirmed case.

Surgeons More Likely To Perform Procedure If They Profit From Device Used, Senate Panel Finds

Morning Briefing

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee issue findings that surgeons involved in doctor-owned distributorships performed spinal-fusion surgery on nearly twice as many patients. Lawmakers recommend several steps to increase transparency and enforcement actions over the practice.

Former Ky. Governor Urges Successor To Avoid ‘Back Room Deals’ In Medicaid Makeover

Morning Briefing

In an increasingly acrimonious debate, former Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, presses Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, to make clear to the public his plans to change the Medicaid expansion that Beshear implemented. Elsewhere, outlets report on Medicaid expansion news from Kansas and Utah.

Watchdog Report Sharply Criticizes Fed’s Efforts To Recoup Medicare Advantage Overcharges

Morning Briefing

The Government Accountability Office said that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has spent about $117 million on Medicare Advantage overbilling audits, but so far has recouped just $14 million. Meanwhile, some Democrats are speaking up for the Medicare Part B change in the face of intense criticism. Also, fee-for-service payments are published and health systems offset Medicare losses.

Price Tag On Sanders’ Health Plan More Than $30 Trillion, Study Claims

Morning Briefing

However, an aide to the candidate says the study, released by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, wildly exaggerates the cost and understates the savings from the health plan.

Kansas Delays Funding Cutoff After Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuit

Morning Briefing

The state will not end Medicaid funding until May 24, according to an attorney for the reproductive health organization. Meanwhile, the Missouri House approves a “personhood” constitutional amendment while Louisiana’s financial picture impacts the abortion debate.

New NYC Guidelines: Bartenders Shouldn’t Make Health Decisions For Expectant Mothers

Morning Briefing

Under city Human Rights Commission guidelines, it’s discriminatory to deny pregnant women alcohol if they order it. Also in the news, one woman’s struggle with infertility, pregnant women who get flu shots have healthier babies and the teen birth rate is down in Alaska.

Life Expectancy Gap Between Black And White Americans Shrinks To Smallest In History

Morning Briefing

The gap was seven years in 1990. By 2014, it was down to 3.4 years. In other public health news, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on hepatitis B trends, and The Associated Press writes about kids being poisoned by e-cigarettes.

Dormant War-On-Drug Era Laws Dusted Off To Go After Opioid Sellers, Providers For Fatal Overdoses

Morning Briefing

Even as the movement to treat drug addiction as a disease instead of a criminal action gains footing, some states are targeting the bottom of the opioid supply chain and going after those who provide users with the drug that led to their deaths.