Latest KFF Health News Stories
It’s A Good Time For Seniors To Evaluate Their Medicare Part D Plan
With drug prices skyrocketing and open enrollment season about top start, The Sacramento Bee reports on the options available to Medicare beneficiaries. In related news, a GAO report finds hospital care to be unaffected by CMS’ quality incentive program while a measure for Medicare to help fund end-of-life counseling gets public support.
Squirrel Bites & Lamppost Run-Ins: Even Strange Injuries, Conditions Coded Under ICD-10
Doctors’ offices are now adapting to a new generation medical coding system, the International Classification of Diseases or ICD-10, that went live this week with nearly 70,000 codes for every medical circumstance from the common to the rare, including crushed by alligator.
On Campaign Trail, 2016 Candidates Advance Health Care Options
One presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., supports allowing some immigrants who are in the country illegally to still get health insurance through the 2010 health law. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton discusses expanding the use of an expensive drug that counters a heroin overdose.
Administration Backs Supreme Court Review Of Legal Challenges To Health Law’s Birth Control Mandate
In other news, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sues a Catholic hospital system over its abortion policy.
Under Alaska’s Medicaid Expansion, 2,000 New Enrollees See Chance For Fresh Start
In other Medicaid expansion news, California’s enrollment efforts have been very successful. But the state’s health insurance program for low-income people now faces some growing pains in dealing with the health care needs of this ballooning population.
Program To Help Health Insurers Deal With Risk Comes Up Short On Cash
Administration officials announce that a health law program designed to reimburse insurers who underestimated the cost of covering new patients coming into the marketplace has not collected as much money as insurers requested.
Congress OKs Health Law Tweak To Ease Insurance Rules For Mid-Size Businesses
The White House has signaled that President Barack Obama will sign the measure.
First Edition: October 2, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Clinton’s Plan Hurts Health Law; GOP And Women; Budget Fears Beyond The Shutdown
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Longer Looks: End-Of-Life Discussions; Selling Sugar; The Cadillac Tax
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Health care stories are reported from New York, California, New Hampshire, Alabama and Texas.
S.C. Medicaid Agency Paid For 222 Abortions In Last 5 Years, Director Says
The official told this number to a state House oversight panel looking into how state agencies interact with Planned Parenthood. However, none of those abortions were performed by Planned Parenthood.
Texas Cuts To Medicaid Outpatient Therapy Services Still A Flashpoint
The state’s lieutenant governor offered a stern defense of the reduction even in the face of an ongoing legal challenge to it. Meanwhile, in Kansas, advocates for the aging and disabled communities are awaiting details on how various waivers will be integrated.
Effort To Repeal Calif. Vaccine Law Falls Short On Signatures
The effort is part of a backlash against a measure that became law this summer.
Under the World Health Organization’s sweeping new recommendations, anyone who tests positive for HIV should begin treatment with HIV anti-retrovirals, rather than waiting until a patient’s viral load reached a certain point. The change would mean that all 37 million people infected with HIV worldwide should receive treatment. Last year, only 15 million did.
Auditor Find Issues With Medicare Payments To Nursing Homes, Oversight Of Advantage Plans
In different reports, the HHS inspector general says Medicare could save billions of dollars by closer monitoring of nursing home services that may not be necessary and questioned if federal officials are making sure that the private Medicare Advantage plans offer adequate networks of doctors and other health care providers.
A Medical Code For Every Condition… Really!
Health providers start today to use the ICD-10, a vast new set of alphanumeric codes for describing diseases and injuries in unprecedented detail.
Sanders’ Plans For Health Care, Other Social Programs Boost Federal Control
The Vermont senator and presidential candidate, who describes himself as a Democratic socialist, favors approaches to health reform education and child care that would convert these industries from the current public-private mix to operations run mainly with federal money.
Employers Seeking Ways To Prepare For Tax On Worker’s Health Benefits
The 2010 health law sets a 40 percent tax in 2018 on coverage that costs more than $10,200 for single plans and $27,500 for family insurance. Also in related health law news, The Hill examines whether a quiet bipartisan effort is developing to revamp some parts of the law.
Sept. 11 Responders’ Health Act Expires After Congress Fails To Extend
The program provides medical care and monitoring for the emergency personnel who became sick after working at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Though it is funded through part of 2016, New York House members wrote in an editorial that allowing the program to formally expire would send a signal that “‘never forget 9/11’ is just a slogan on a bumper sticker.”
