Latest KFF Health News Stories
More Doctors Adopt Electronic Health Records
The nation’s top Health IT official is lauding the nation’s doctors for more widely adopting electronic health records in the past few years, but he and new studies say more work is needed to help the systems communicate with each other.
Medicare To Propose New Doctor Payment For Managing Multiple Chronic Conditions
Medicare is proposing paying doctors for managing Medicare patients with multiple chronic conditions starting in 2015. In the meantime, a Medicare plan to deny an Eli Lily diagnostic test to patients unless they are enrolled in a clinical trial is decried by some Alzheimer’s treatment advocates.
Office Nurses’ Role Evolves In Marketplace; Studies Look At Heart Procedures
The Wall Street Journal examines how companies, facing higher insurance costs, are using office nurses to “nudge employees about long-term, expensive conditions.” Meanwhile, heart studies probe where hospitals are building new angioplasty centers and how Medicare Advantage handles cardiac treatment.
House Republicans Promise New Efforts To Fight Health Law’s Individual Mandate
Speaker John Boehner vows to hold a vote this month to remove the requirement that Americans get insurance, and some in the GOP suggest they could attach the effort to bills raising the U.S. debt limit.
Texas House Lawmakers Give Initial Approval To Abortion Restrictions
Following a dramatic, last-minute Democratic filibuster late last week, Texas House lawmakers in a special session Tuesday tentatively approved controversial abortion restrictions after more contentious debate. Other states are debating the issue as well.
Catholic Hospital Group Satisfied With Contraceptive Compromise
The Catholic Health Association, which has sided with the administration before on the law, said the plan will allow employees to get birth control coverage without the hospitals paying for it.
State Highlights: Disabled At Risk At Calif. Facilities, Audit Finds; Ga. Maternal Mortality
A selection of health policy stories from California, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama, Florida and Kansas.
Viewpoints: USA Today Says ‘GOP Poisons’ Obamacare; McConnell Calls For Repeal
A variety of opinions, editorials and analyses from around the country.
Pharmaceutical Companies Race For New Cholesterol Drugs
A discovery of a rare mutation that affects cholesterol has ignited hopes of a prescription that can help prevent heart attacks. In the meantime, an announcement by Roche could pose more questions about controversial diabetes medicines. Also a federal report warns Americans of using some Internet pharmacies.
Minn., Texas, Colo. Adapting To Health Law In Different Ways
News outlets covered how various states are ramping up health exchanges, or not, and expanding Medicaid, or not.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles about House Republican plans to seek a delay in the health law’s requirement that nearly all Americans get health insurance.
Study: Popular Search Engines Share Search Data About Medical Conditions
Researchers find that popular websites share search data with advertisers and other third parties.
Americans Live Longer, But May Be More Prone To Disability That Hinders Independence
In the meantime, public health evidence for smoking bans may be thinner than previously touted.
Viewpoints: Employer Mandate: Suspension Of Law Or Bump In Road?
Columnists and editorial boards examine the implications of the postponed employer mandate deadline and other issues.
Rural Hospitals, Clinics At Center Of Obamacare Success Or Failure For Poor
A new hospital and network of rural health care clinics in Missouri highlight the challenges that Obamacare has in treating the nation’s poor — a key tenet of the health law.
With 2014 Budget Process Beginning, NIH Cuts Decried
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., joined by executives from the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins, callsfor an end to sequestration cuts of medical research budgets.
Obama Touts Health Care In Government Technology Push
President Obama says government should do what his administration did with the new healthcare.gov and health insurance application — make better use of technology to make government more efficient.
Doctors Weigh Changes In Intern Hours, Role With Patients, Pay Models
Many changes in the way America’s doctors deliver care are challenging long-held notions of how health care functions for patients.
Judge Blocks New Wis. Abortion Law; Texas Rallies Draw Thousands
News outlets are covering abortion “culture wars,” especially in state legislatures.
OMB Finds Deficit Shrinking But Poised To Rise Without Entitlement Fixes
The White House budget office expects the deficit to go down to $496 billion in 2018 before heading to $593 billion in 2022.
