Latest KFF Health News Stories
State Highlights: Dispute Over What Doctors Can Say At Catholic Hospital
A dispute between a Colorado cardiologist and a Catholic hospital over what he says is a ban on discussing abortion with patients, even when a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life, is part of today’s health policy roundup from Colorado and California.
Medicaid Enrollment Progresses Under Health Overhaul
Gov. Scott Walker says he wants to delay his plan to move more than 70,000 people off Medicaid because the health law online marketplaces are not working well enough yet.
California Shuts Down 10 Sites Imitating State Insurance Marketplace
The California attorney general said her office shuttered the websites that had mimicked the state’s official health insurance exchange “in order to lure consumers away from plans that provide the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.”
Obama Nominates Harvard Hospitalist, Early Health Law Supporter To Be Surgeon General
President Obama nominated Dr. Vivek Murthy, a hospitalist at Harvard and an early supporter of the health law, to be the nation’s surgeon general.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Research Roundup: Other Nations Surpass U.S. Health Care
This week’s studies come from Health Affairs, The Commonwealth Fund, the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA Surgery, the AARP Public Policy Institute and news outlets.
First Edition: November 15, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a range of stories examining the policy, marketplace and political dynamics in play as a result of President Barack Obama’s move to stop the cancellation of insurance plans.
Obama Offers Fix For Insurance Plan Cancellations
President Barack Obama offered the outlines of an administrative fix to the problem some consumers are facing — health coverage cancellation notices.
Obama Faces Trust Issues As A Result Of Health Law Woes
President Barack Obama — and Democrats, by proxy — face big political problems as a result of the botched rollout of the insurance website and the debunking of his pledge that Americans could keep their health plans if they liked them. Recent polls have Democrats and Republicans neck-and-neck in midterm election polls, and Fox News reports that half of voters think the president “knowingly lied” about the health law.
Congressional Democrats Fuming At White House Handling Of Health Law
An increasing number of these lawmakers say they favor a legislative plan offered by Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to allow people whose insurance has been canceled because of the law to keep it.
Why California Could Delay Anthem’s Cancellations; Young People’s Coverage Costs
NPR examines an administration claim that half of young people can get coverage for $50 per month or less, while California Healthline explores the reasons the state insurance commissioner was able to delay Anthem’s cancellations.
House Oversight Panel Grills Administration Tech Officials On Website Woes
The White House’s chief technology officer, Todd Park, told the committee that teams are working aggressively to get the website functioning “for the vast majority” of consumers by the administration’s Nov. 30 deadline. Meanwhile, a second panel heard testimony about website and security concerns.
State Highlights: In Ohio, Enrollment In Expanded Medicaid Will Begin Next Month
In other Medicaid news, federal prosecutors are looking into a recent settlement between the District of Columbia and a former Medicaid contractor.
Both Sides In The Health Law Battle Spin Insurance Sign-Up Figures
Health law advocates offered positive messages about the enrollment numbers released Wednesday by the Obama administration while the measure’s critics pounced on the low figures and renewed calls for action.
What The Health Law’s Future Holds: Fixing The Website And Everything After
News outlets report on the various ways the website issues and sign-up woes could be addressed, as well as what a variety of experts say about the global outlook for the health law.
HHS Health Insurance Enrollment Figures Far Below Targets
Only about a fourth of the enrollees signed up through the federal health exchange. The low initial sign up could set up a steep challenge for the health law.
California Beating All Other States In Health Law Exchange Enrollment
California is the bright spot in enrolling people in the health law’s insurance exchanges — beating even the federal Healthcare.gov in how many have signed up. Still, California’s enrollment figures — representing about a third of all signups around the nation — mean less than 1 percent of uninsured Californians have signed up for plans.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
First Edition: November 14, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details about the online health insurance enrollment numbers released yesterday by the Obama administration and examinations of what might happen next.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced enrollment numbers today for the federal and state online health insurance marketplaces that opened Oct. 1.
