Latest KFF Health News Stories
NAACP Joins Fight To Expand Medicaid In N.C.
Medicaid also makes news in Texas, where some lawmakers set a marker for what they want from an expansion while others there decry the program’s larger cost.
Legal Challenge To Obamacare Subsidies Worries Consumers
As attention is focused on the high court’s consideration of King v. Burwell, news outlets also take a look at the people who will be affected if the justices rule against the subsidies.
The Health Law’s Future And Four Little Words
News outlets preview and analyze the key issues that will be in play as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in King v. Burwell, the legal challenge to the health law’s insurance subsidies.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: GOP Plan Could Hurt CHIP; Abusing Painkillers; Privacy Issues And Genetic Testing
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Supreme Court Case Commentary: Millions Could Lose Coverage; A GOP Plan To Fix Health Care
Opinion writers from a variety of publications offer their views of the legal arguments and the stakes involved as the high court prepares to review a key provision of the health law.
State Highlights: State Medicaid Fraud Units Net More Than $2B
A selection of health policy stories from Connecticut, Georgia, California, Maryland, Texas, Idaho, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas and Washington.
Poll: Childhood Trauma, Poverty, Among Factors That Shape Health
A survey by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that Americans believe their health is affected by a range of social and cultural factors, from poverty, exposure to pollutants and stress to lack of access to quality medical care.
Antipsychotic Drugs Overused For Dementia Patients
Federal investigators are recommending that Medicare reduce unnecessary psychiatric prescriptions for seniors suffering from dementia, reports The New York Times. Another report finds that more than a quarter of children taken from their homes and put in foster care aren’t getting required medical care.
Health Care Data Poses Opportunities, Dangers
The Lewin Group looks for an analyst to parse health care data to help the government prepare for the next crisis. Meanwhile, Pro Publica reports that federal fines are rare despite the increasing number of health data breaches.
3 GOP Senators Pledge Help If High Court Strikes Down Health Law’s Insurance Subsidies
The Republicans, who oppose the law, are focusing on temporary fixes to avoid chaos — and voters’ backlash — if the Supreme Court bars federal exchange subsidies. The senators have not described what those fixes might be or how they would pay for them.
Date Set For Ariz. High Court Case On Funding For Medicaid Expansion
Elsewhere, Florida is scheduled to lose $1 billion in federal health funds at the end of June and that is threatening the governor’s budget. But the low-income hospitals that have funding at stake see the issue as a way to bolster the case for Medicaid expansion.
Oregon Lawmakers Pass Bill To Abolish State Corp. That Ran Failed Health Marketplace
The measure, which now goes to the governor, would dissolve the independent corporation that has been running Cover Oregon — the failed state health insurance exchange — and move its operations into the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Meanwhile, legal issues between the exchange and Oracle America, its developer, continue. News outlets also report on developments related to exchanges in Rhode Island and Tennessee.
Angst, Sense of Impending Crisis Surround Wednesday’s Health Law Arguments
The Supreme Court justices will again hold the fate of the health law in their hands as they hear arguments in the latest legal challenge to the overhaul. News outlets analyze what’s at stake in the case — for policy makers and consumers — as well as the contingency plans, or lack thereof, if the court rules against the subsidies.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: ‘Blueprint’ For A New VA Health Care System; The ‘Food Cops’
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
King v Burwell Views: GOP Unity Needed; Watching Roberts Again; Insurers’ Risk
Many outlets offer opinions on the upcoming Supreme Court arguments over a key provision in the health law.
A selection of health policy stories from West Virginia, Virginia, Missouri, California, North Carolina and Minnesota.
Changes Proposed For Veterans’ Health Care
The proposal, which came from a national veterans task force, would give veterans the choice to receive subsidized private care and convert the Veterans Health Administration into a nonprofit corporation, rather than a government agency.
Lawsuit Alleges HCA Hospitals Did Unnecessary Cardiac Procedures
The hospital company disclosed the lawsuit Thursday, which was filed in Florida in 2012 and singled out hospitals in that state for subjecting patients to high-risk procedures and submitting false medical claims. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Gilead is avoiding billions in U.S. taxes on its costly new hepatitis C pill.
