Latest KFF Health News Stories
Tricky Politics Affecting Arkansas, Arizona Medicaid Expansions
An Arkansas special election, which was held to replace a Democratic senator who was forced to step down over ethics violations, centered on questions about the state plans to expand Medicaid. It resulted in a Republican win and takes away one vote from the “private option” expansion plan lawmakers approved last year. News outlets also provide updates from Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire.
State Highlights: Battle Over Medical Care In Texas Jails
A selection of health policy stories from Texas, North Carolina, California, Virginia, Missouri and Massachusetts.
Surgeon General: Smoking Linked To More Than 30 Diseases, Conditions
The report, which finds that smoking causes even more physical and financial damage than previously estimated, was released 50 years after the first report tied cigarettes to diseases.
Feds File Record Number Of Health Care Fraud Cases Last Year
The Associated Press reports that prosecutors pursued 377 new federal health care fraud cases last fiscal year.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Report Card: E.R. Docs Give Low Grades To Nation’s Emergency Care Infrastructure
A new report from an ER physician group measured “access to care, quality and patient safety, liability, injury prevention and disaster preparedness,” offering a snapshot of national and state policies affecting emergency medicine.
Shortage Of Mental Health Services Underscored By Health Law
The impact of the health law on individuals needing mental health services, as well as on small businesses and the homeless are explored by various media outlets.
Research Roundup: Nursing Home Transitions; The Impact Of Raising Medicare Premiums
Among the sources for this week’s studies are the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, The George Washington University School of Public Health, JAMA Surgery, The Kaiser Family Foundation, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the Journal of Infectious Diseases and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
First Edition: January 17, 2014
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports from Capitol Hill about passage of a $1.1 billion spending bill as well as testimony by an Obama administration official about healthcare.gov.
Federal Judge Upholds Health Law’s Subsidies
Critics of the overhaul argued that, as passed by Congress, the statutory language limited the use of subsidies to purchase health insurance to consumers in states that are running their own online marketplaces — not to those who are shopping for health plans on the federal exchange. The judge’s ruling, which upholds a central element of the health law, is a victory for the Obama administration.
As the Wall Street Journal reports that one of the biggest issues right now is making sure these newly insured people have insurance cards, other news outlets detail reports and questions about the number of enrollees.
Supreme Court Appears Split On Abortion Protester ‘Buffer-Zone’
Several justices expressed skepticism about the constitutionality of a Massachusetts law that prohibits protesters within a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinic entrances. Chief Justice John Roberts is likely to cast the deciding vote.
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Wyden’s Medicare Proposal Portends New Powerful Post
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the likely next Senate Finance Committee chairman, is flexing his political muscles by proposing a change to how Medicare treats and pays for care for chronically ill patients. Wyden is in line to take over chairmanship of the committee when Sen. Max Baucus is confirmed as U.S. ambassador to China.
Facing Medicare Funding Cuts, Virginia Hospitals Push For Medicaid Expansion
Expanding the program for low-income residents would help bring new revenue to the hospitals. Meanwhile, supporters of Medicaid expansion offer a new proposal in Nebraska and a young man in Utah diagnosed with cancer faces treatment problems because he lost his Medicaid coverage.
This and other related marketing attempts are meant to spark young people’s interest in obtaining health coverage before enrollment ends March 31.
State Highlights: Some Hospitals Aim For Wealthier Patients
A selection of health policy stories from Noth Carolina, California, Michigan and Missouri.
Insurers Again Extend Payment Deadlines For Jan. 1 Coverage On Exchanges
News outlets in California offer examples of companies that are giving new customers more time to pay their first month’s premiums, while in Connecticut, one insurer is beginning to get a handle the crush of enrollment.
Questions Surround Future Of Some Troubled State Exchanges
State insurance exchanges in Maryland, Oregon and Colorado are under the microscope and drawing criticism. Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers in Tennessee and Texas propose legislation to undermine the health law in those states. And a cybersecurity official at the Department of Health and Human Services tells congressional investigators that testing of healthcare.gov, the federal online exchange, was inadequate.
Companies Find Ways To Keep Offering ‘No Frills’ Health Plans To Employees
The Wall Street Journal reports that, as long as companies offer at least one plan that complies with the health law’s requirements, they are free to also offer employees choices that don’t. Also in the news, Obama administration data analysts are watching health care habits and patterns, and other health companies are seeing business opportunities in sharing the information they collect, too.
