Latest KFF Health News Stories
Big GOP Gains Could Mean More Anti-Abortion Laws
Also, Colorado lawmakers ready their own birth control funding fight.
Supreme Court To Consider Case About Job Protections For Pregnant Women
Groups representing women, workers, employers and others will watch the case to see how the justices handle a company’s refusal to reassign a woman to light duty during her pregnancy.
GAO Questions Hospital Pricing Deals
The government watchdog questions whether hospitals are properly reporting revenue received from group purchasing organizations. Meanwhile, federal investigators, posing as consumers, investigated prices of a colonoscopy and a hernia repair. Often, they had trouble getting answers.
House GOP Lawsuit Highlights Little-Noticed Health Law Funding Provision
The measure offers financial assistance to help low- and moderate-income people reduce their co-payments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs.
Business CEOs Raise Objections To EEOC’s Handling Of Health Law’s Wellness Provisions
The dispute could undermine large businesses’ support for the health law, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that legal immigrants are having difficulty signing up for coverage on the insurance marketplaces and several outlets examine the administration’s efforts to increase enrollment.
Enrollment Begins For Healthy Pennsylvania — The State’s Effort At Medicaid Expansion
News outlets also report on expansion efforts in Arizona and Wyoming.
Insurer Competition In Many Counties Drives Down Premiums
In Minnesota, meanwhile, Republicans who won control of the state House are looking for ways to challenge the health law there but will face checks from the Democrat-controlled state Senate and executive. And in California, insurance agents who signed people up for coverage wait to be paid.
Slow Start, Scant Interest In Small Business Exchanges
Participation in the government insurance exchanges designed for small businesses has been minimal so far and at least in Missouri, one reason may be the scant offerings, reports The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Caution: Your Health Insurance Plan May Have High Deductibles
High deductible plans are having an effect on whether people get care, and are just one of the things consumers should check before deciding what to buy.
First Edition: December 1, 2014
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Administration: Hundreds Of Thousands Already Enrolled In Obamacare
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell made the announcement Wednesday.
Viewpoints: Schumer’s Second Thoughts About Obamacare; Need For ‘Candor’ On Welfare State
A selection of opinions on health care from around the United States.
State Highlights: Texas Court Rejects Mentally Ill Man’s Appeal; VA Hospital Death Probed
News outlets also look at health developments in Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Texas and Washington state.
Longer Looks: 3-D Medical Printing; Healthier Hospitals; Early Cancer Detection Pitfalls
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Gruber Agrees To Testify On The Hill About Controversial Remarks
The consultant, who helped advise the White House on the health care law, will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform next month.
Advocates Cheer New Rx Rules To Prevent Discrimination
Patient groups laud new HHS rules barring insurers from discriminating against those with expensive health problems, such as AIDS, but want enforcement. Advocates for the poor draw attention to the struggle in many states to re-enroll adults and children in Medicaid.
New Calorie Count Rules Cause Confusion, Pushback
The Food And Drug Administration’s calorie disclosure rules will affect many restaurants and other businesses.
HHS Plans Holiday Weekend Campaign To Remind Shoppers About Insurance Sign-Up
Also in health insurance enrollment news, the Wall Street Journal reports on problems with insurers’ lists of doctors.
A Top Democrat Says Party ‘Blew Opportunity’ With Health Care Focus
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats hurt themselves in 2009 and 2010 by putting so much effort on reforming health care, rather than on policies that would have helped a broader swath of the middle class.
