Latest KFF Health News Stories
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Getting Obamacare To Harder-To-Reach Groups
Reaching underserved populations who are newly qualified for coverage remains a major concern and challenge to advocacy groups like Families USA. For insurers and government officials, the target is healthy people who will help balance new risk pools.
When Cut From Medicare Advantage Plans, Doctors Face Dilemma About Patients
Doctors are trying to find the best way to tell some of their patients that they have been cut from Medicare advantage plans — cuts they say threaten patient care. In the meantime, Medicare is trying to crack down on habitual overcharging by doctors.
High Court Gives Temporary Contraception Coverage Exemption To Nuns
The Little Sisters of The Poor doesn’t want to have an outside administrator for its health plan, which covers employees of their nursing facilities.
State Highlights: N.Y. Revises Its Request For Medicaid Adjustment
A selection of health policy stories from New York, Washington state, California, Virginia, Idaho, Connecticut and Georgia.
First Edition: January 27, 2014
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report about a new Associated Press poll that found some negative views of the health law may be easing.
Saga Ends: Texas Woman Disconnected From Ventilator
The devices that had kept a pregnant woman’s heart and lungs working were turned off this morning, after a court order.
Supreme Court Gives Nuns Temporary Reprieve On Health Law’s Contraceptive Mandate
The Little Sisters of the Poor will not have to meet the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage to employees while their case is being heard in the court system.
Health Law Enrollment Hits Approximately 3 Million In January
Though this number is shy of earlier projections, it is getting closer to hitting monthly expectations. The administration, though, did not provide data about payment.
Judge Bars Missouri’s Limits On Health Law Navigators
A federal district judge ruled Thursday that Missouri officials were illegally obstructing the activities of insurance guides funded by the federal government to help consumers enroll in coverage under the health law. More than a dozen Republican-led states have imposed additional requirements on the guides, also known as navigators.
Medicaid ‘Death Debt’ Causes Some To Step Away From Coverage
A little-known aspect of Medicaid allows states, in certain cases, to recoup medical costs by claiming deceased people’s homes, which is causing some people to avoid coverage, even those who are newly eligible under the health law’s expanded eligibility.
GAO: Most Medicare Advantage Plans Meet Medical Expense Standard
The federal health law requires the plans to pay out at least 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical expenses or refund the excess revenue to the government.
Covered California Gets Federal Grant To Improve Customer Service, Boost Enrollment
Also in the news, reports about state exchange challenges and difficulties in Nevada, Texas, Maryland, Hawaii and Minnesota.
White House Health Care Adviser To Leave His Post
Chris Jennings, the White House’s coordinator for health reform, resigned after six months citing personal reasons and family considerations.
Moody’s Downgrades Outlook For Health Insurers
The credit-rating firm shifted health insurers from stable to negative, citing the health law’s troubled rollout. Meanwhile, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini predicted that companies would soon spend billions on consumer advertising. And The New York Times explores allegations that Health Management Associates, a for-profit hospital chain based in Naples, Fla., pursued strategies to increase admissions, regardless of whether a patient needed hospital care.
Huckabee Takes Aim At Health Law’s Birth Control Requirement
The former Arkansas governor’s comments, offered as part of a speech to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, drew harsh responses from Planned Parenthood and Democratic Party committees.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Mayors Also Have A Stake In The Medicaid Expansion’s ‘Promise And Pitfalls’
This health law topic is high on the agenda of this week’s U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington. Meanwhile, Utah’s Gov. Gary Herbert said he will pursue some form of the expansion. Also in the news, related developments in Montana and Missouri.
State Highlights: Hearing Friday On Battle Over Texas Woman On Life Support
A selection of health policy stories from Texas, Kansas and Oregon.
Research Roundup: Patient Safety Measure Results ‘Disappointing’
This week’s studies come from The New England Journal of Medicine, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Annals of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, JAMA Surgery, Brookings Institution, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
