Latest KFF Health News Stories
Deal Will Make Tenet Nation’s Largest Outpatient Surgery Provider
Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced a joint venture with United Surgical Partners International Inc. that will enable it to fully own the company within five years.
Humana To Sell Occupational Health Provider Concerta
Humana will make about $1.06 billion in the deal. The sale reportedly reflects a narrowing of the big insurer’s focus.
Ted Cruz Launches Campaign With Call To Abolish Health Law
The Republican senator, who announced his presidential campaign on the fifth anniversary of the health law, made his vow to eliminate it a key part of his remarks at Liberty University.
Amended Medicaid Expansion Plan Stalls In Montana Senate
News outlets also report on the latest news on the expansion out of state legislatures in Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Hospitals Save $7.4 Billion Due to Fewer Unpaid Bills
Hospitals in the U.S. benefited from a $7.4 billion reduction in uncompensated care costs last year, according to a government report. Hospitals in the 28 states, plus D.C., that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare saw $5 billion of that savings, while the cost of unpaid bills declined by $2.4 million in states that did not expand.
Study: Half Of Households Getting Subsidies May Have To Repay IRS
The analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation also projects that 45 percent of households getting subsidies would receive refunds from the government after reconciling the tax credits with their 2014 income.
Assessing Health Law’s Impact At Five Years
The nation’s uninsured dropped by 11 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while others note record slow growth in health care spending. But some experts raise questions about whether new models to pay doctors and hospitals will control costs.
The Push Is On For A ‘Doc Fix’ As Budget Issues Swirl In The Background
A House measure to address permanently the formula used to determine Medicare physician payments has taken shape, but its future is clouded by abortion issues and how it will be paid for. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers are also attempting to advance budget resolutions in the House and Senate.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
A selection of health policy stories from Florida, Wisconsin, Texas, California, Washington, Minnesota, Kansas, North Carolina and Indiana.
Gilead Warns Over Heart Drug After Patient Problems
The drug maker says nine patients who were taking its hepatitis C drugs in tandem with amiodarone, a heart drug, developed slow heartbeats, and one died from cardiac arrest. Elsewhere, Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in slowing the disease.
Tenet Nearing Deal To Buy United Surgical
A deal between the companies, which could be valued at more than $2.5 billion, including debt, might be announced as early as Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other stories analyze the move away from fee-for-service medicine and whether it will improve quality of care, as proponents argue, and the evolution to today’s complex hospital bill.
Big Tax Surprises For Some Obamacare Enrollees
The complicated nature of who qualifies for tax subsidies has Americans — and small businesses — struggling to cope with how the health law fits into their tax bills this year, even as many choose to pay a tax penalty instead of carry coverage. Elsewhere, officials are sending out corrected tax forms for Obamacare enrollees.
Health Law Brings 11 Million People Into Medicaid Or CHIP
The gains in the two programs designed for low-income residents have been growing since new insurance enrollment began under the health law in 2013, the administration says.
Diabetes Care Improves For Low-Income Patients With Medicaid Expansion, Study Finds
The study, which was done by Quest Diagnostics, analyzed lab test results in 50 states from the company’s database over two six-month periods. In states that expanded Medicaid, the number of enrollees with newly identified diabetes increased 23 percent in the first six months of 2014 compared with 0.4 percent in the states that did not expand the low-income health insurance program.
Taking Stock Of The ACA On Its Fifth Anniversary
President Barack Obama signed the health law on March 23, 2010 amid applause and fanfare. But since then, its existence has been tortured — with continued repeal efforts by congressional Republicans, fits and starts in the marketplace and court challenges. News outlets take inventory of how the law has played out.
Federal Officials Ready Charges Against Sen. Robert Menendez
The New Jersey senator has been under investigation by the FBI for more than two years for corruption. He is suspected of receiving gifts from a Florida eye surgeon and, in turn, helping the physician with business interests and Medicare billing issues. News outlets report, though, that as this case goes forward it is being haunted by a 2008 investigation involving another senator.
GOP Budgets Highlight Views Of Medicare, Medicaid
But the difference between House and Senate Republicans’ versions could heighten tensions. In the meantime, the Obama administration pushes the GOP to detail how it would make the cuts.
Abortion Issue Threatens To Snag ‘Doc Fix’ Progress
Some people are questioning whether the community health center funding in the House bill that seeks to replace Medicare’s payment system for doctors will be compromised because of abortion restrictions. The politically charged issue has already held up progress in the Senate on a measure to fight human trafficking.
