Latest KFF Health News Stories
State Highlights: Wis. Bill Would Limit Worker’s Comp Medical Costs
A selection of health policy stories from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Connecticut and Kansas.
First Edition: February 10, 2014
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including stories about the health law’s coverage gap.
After Uproar About Obamacare Remarks, AOL Reverses 401(k) Policy
The company blamed the law and the health costs of two “distressed babies” for a significant change in how it matches 401(k) contributions.
CBO Report On Obamacare And Jobs Still Hot-Button Issue
Republicans and Democrats jumped on the Congressional Budget Office report of the effects of the health law on employment.
States Struggle To Fix Failed Exchanges
The “spectacular failure” of health insurance exchanges in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland and Oregon — despite their support of the health law — gets a closer look from ProPublica. Repair efforts in Maryland and Oregon are also covered.
Mass. Hires New Firm To Fix Online Insurance Marketplace
A report blames Massachusetts’ online insurance marketplace woes on problems at the firm the state hired to build the website, CGI. Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a plan Thursday that would hire another firm, while retaining CGI, to make fixes to the site.
Hill Committee Leaders Reach Deal On Replacing Medicare Doctor Pay Formula
The agreement would get rid of the troubled system that has often left doctors uncertain about their reimbursements, but the bipartisan leaders have not yet found a way to pay for such a change.
Arkansas’ Model Medicaid Expansion Plan In Jeopardy
Arizona’s efforts to expand the program are also facing challenges while a new approach is being advanced in Virginia.
N.H. State Senators Agree To Bipartisan Medicaid Expansion Compromise
The plan will require three federal waivers, would sunset after three years without continued 100 percent federal contributions and would use private insurance to reach the additional low-income New Hampshire residents. It’s similar to the Iowa and Arkansas approaches.
GOP Considers Asking For ‘Doc Fix,’ Other Proposals, In Return For Debt-Ceiling Raise
House Republicans are considering their options on tying proposals they want to see to passing an increase in the debt ceiling, among them fixing the way Medicare pays doctors. Democrats and the White House are making it increasingly clear that they don’t intend on making concessions with the debt limit.
Despite Enrollment Jump, Aetna Says It Faces Losses From Health Exchanges
Insurer Aetna said that although it has signed up 135,000 new members, it expects to lose money on the health law’s marketplaces this year. Cigna, in the meantime, saw its fourth-quarter profit dip as it lost members.
AOL Blames Health Law For Change In Retirement Benefits, Without Details
AOL owns websites such as Huffington Post.
Fact Checker Skewers Attack Ads ‘Based’ On CBO Report On Health Law
The first ads are already out based on the Congressional Budget Office’s report on the health law’s impact on the labor market, and the Washington Post’s Fact Checker finds plenty of distortions. Meanwhile, the White House seeks to persuade Americans that it’s a good thing if the health care law means they can work less.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
State Highlights: No Relief In Sight For High Insurance Prices In Colo. Ski Towns
A selection of health policy stories from Colorado, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida and California.
Consumers Might Get To Keep Noncompliant Health Plans Longer
The Obama administration is said to be debating whether to let people keep their individual insurance policies for as long as an additional three years. Meanwhile, groups seeking to enroll young people in coverage use techniques honed in political campaigns, and critics of the law call on consumers to take individual responsibility for their health.
Research Roundup: Value-Based Insurance; Telemedicine In Nursing Homes
This week’s studies come from Health Affairs, JAMA Internal Medicine, Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Heritage Foundation.
First Edition: February 7, 2014
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports from Capitol Hill about the continuing efforts to overhaul Medicare’s payment system for doctors.
CBO Report Reaction Leads To Fact-Checking, Heavy Dose Of Political Debate
Despite the political storm it has generated, the latest report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the law will give several million people an opportunity to work less or not at all, because they won’t be stuck in jobs simply to keep their job-based insurance.
‘Risk Corridors’ Become Key GOP Anti-Health Law Talking Point
During a hearing of the House Oversight And Government Reform Committee, Republicans tagged this provision as an insurance industry bailout despite Congressional Budget Office projections cited by Democrats that it ultimately will collect billions of dollars from insurers rather than paying them money.
