Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: November 20, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that President Barack Obama places some of the blame for the health law’s woes with Republicans, and details of comments by an Obama administration tech official that a large portion of the healthcare.gov ‘back office’ functions are yet to be built.
Safety-Net Hospitals Lose More Under Medicare’s Quality-Based Payments
Medicare’s effort to reward hospitals for quality is leaving many of the nation’s safety-net hospitals poorer, a new analysis finds.
Health Law Travails Drag Down Obama Approval Rating
A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds President Barack Obama’s disapproval reaches an all-time high. The fallout from the beleaguered rollout of healthcare.gov also seems to be shaping voters’ thoughts about upcoming congressional races.
Report Issued Early Warnings About Healthcare.gov Risks
An analysis done in late March by McKinsey & Co. called attention to a number of trouble spots. Meanwhile, Politico details a “Red Team” report done by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that also sounded alarms.
Health Law’s Supporters and Opponents Working Hard To Woo Young Adults
Enrolling young people in the marketplaces is vital to making those exchanges work, and some critics are trying to keep those healthy people off the exchanges. Meanwhile, the president Monday night urges his supporters to help drum up support for the health law.
White House Officials Say 20% Won’t Be Able To Complete Healthcare.gov Process To Buy Insurance
In a progress report, Obama administration officials are predicting that, despite fixes that have been made, one in five people won’t be able to buy health insurance via the online process. Still, the pace of enrollments has more than doubled, the New York Times reports.
GOP Candidates Hope To Use Botched Health Law Startup To Their Advantage
Some veteran Democratic lawmakers are being called to the carpet as a result of the difficulties with healthcare.gov and news of health policy cancellations. Meanwhile, also in the news, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also offers a bleak prediction of the health law’s future.
Obama Tells Insurers His ‘Fix’ May Cost Them
President Barack Obama acknowledged to insurance executives that reinstating millions of insurance policies might cost them, according to Politico. Other media outlets report that brokers are worried about their role in the insurance marketplace and how one company is forecasting that a failure to enroll the uninsured could cut prescription drug sales by 30 percent in 2017.
States are considering whether to allow insurers to continue offering current plans that are sold on the individual market and that don’t meet the standards of the health law. The president suggested that fix last week.
Senate Gives Final Approval To Bill Tightening Control Over Drug-Compounding Pharmacies
The Senate gave final approval to a bill Monday that gives federal regulators greater oversight of compounding pharmacies like the ones responsible for a deadly meningitis outbreak last year. The president is expected to sign the bill.
Contraception Coverage, Abortion Loom As Issues For High Court, Advocacy Groups
Advocacy groups are wondering about a future boomerang effect of the “nuclear option,” which could keep Senate Republicans from filibustering judicial nominations.
Some States See Health Plan Enrollment Surge
While the balky federal website has made enrollment difficult for residents of 36 states, tens of thousands of consumers are signing up for coverage in places like California, Connecticut and Kentucky which have functioning websites, reports the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, states and advocacy groups are tweaking their marketing. In Maryland, for instance, radio and TV ads encourage residents to call 211, rather than go to a website, to get coverage.
ProPublica: Medicare Could Save Billions With Generic Drugs
The nonprofit news service analyzed millions of prescriptions. Also, a CMS official says “the Medicare program is stronger today than in recent memory.”
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Jousting Over Medicaid Expansion
In Alaska, Gov. Sean Parnell said Friday his state will not expand Medicaid under the health law, while reports from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Maine assess the decisions — and, in some cases, continued lobbying — in those states.
State Highlights: Calif. Fines Three Insurers For Denying Therapy
A selection of health policy stories from California, Colorado, Kansas and Florida.
First Edition: November 19, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news that Obama administration officials were warned about the possibility of website difficulties months ago by an outside consulting firm.
White House Struggles To Save Health Law
The Associated Press reports the president needs breakthroughs on three fronts: the cancellations and technology messes and the crisis in confidence among his own supporters. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports the White House is probing how the rollout flopped despite what they had believed was sufficient planning.
News outlets examine the continuing reaction to President Barack Obama’s fix as well as how the news is playing on the state level.
What’s The Healthcare.Gov Goal? 80 Percent Enrollment Success Rate
Obama administration officials are quietly hoping 80 percent of users will be able to enroll in health insurance plans on the federal health law’s healthcare.gov website once it is fixed, The Washington Post reports. In the meantime, other website snags come to light — a lack of Spanish-language materials and early alarm at some problems at rolling out the site.
