Latest KFF Health News Stories
State Highlights: Feds Sue Fla. Senate President’s Former Co. Over Medicare Billing
A selection of health policy news from Florida, Oklahoma, California, North Carolina and Oregon.
Research Roundup: Out-Of-Pocket Costs On Individual Market
This week’s studies come from Health Affairs, JAMA Internal Medicine, the Urban Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and news sources.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about efforts by the Obama administration to boost health exchange enrollment.
For Obama, Health Law Is Central To Legacy
Bloomberg reports that shortly after President Barack Obama’s re-election, he told senior staff members that the health law would be one of his second term’s highest priorities. In related news, health care will be a focus for Obama this week, and it was a hot topic at a recent dinner between the president and House Democrats.
Will The Health Law Ease Job Lock?
The Wall Street Journal writes how the health law’s coverage expansions could provide entrepreneurs with a new source for health coverage.
California’s Health Exchange Board Given Unusual Degree Of Secrecy Over Contracts
The Associated Press reports that a California state law created a state agency to oversee implementation of the health law and gave it authority to keep what it spent on contractors a secret.
Expiring Patents Drive Drug Spending’s First Time Fall
Patient spending on prescription drugs fell in 2012 — for the first time ever, a new study reports — due in part to expiring patents on brand-name drugs.
Medicaid Expansion Unlikely In Ohio, Texas; California Moves Forward
As the clock continues to wind down on state legislative sessions, the optional expansion of eligibility for the program looks unlikely in those states. But, in California, health care advocates offer a compromise approach on how to move ahead.
Although the government releases a list of what hospitals across the country charge for common procedures in an effort to make health costs more transparent, few patients or their insurers pay that.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
State Roundup: Miss. Gov. Says Medicaid Can Go On Without Reauthorization
A selection of health policy news from Mississippi, Kansas, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Colorado.
Cantor Schedules (Yet Another) Health Law Repeal Vote
The vote, which is likely to take place next week, will be the first one in 2013. There have been more than 30 votes to repeal all or parts of the health overhaul since its passage in 2010.
Longer Looks: A Wife’s Alzheimer’s; Doctors and Drug Companies
This week’s articles come from the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, The New York Times, The American Spectator, The New Republic and Health Affairs.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the politics surrounding the health law, both in terms of the latest GOP push for repeal and the Obama administration’s implementation efforts.
‘Grand Bargain’ Budget Deal Appears Increasingly Unlikely
News outlets report that pressure is easing as the federal government’s “red ink” recedes, leaving Democrats far less likely to consider the major changes to Medicare that Republicans view as the building block for any agreement.
Hospital Billing Varies Widely For The Same Procedures, Medicare Data Show
Data being released for the first time by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show how billing varies not just between regions, but among hospitals in the same city.
GOP Supermajority In Missouri Scuttles Medicaid Expansion Plans
Lawmakers opt to set up committees to study the issue instead. In Texas, some tea party-affiliated lawmakers threaten to reject the state budget if negotiators include a rider that would allow discussions about expanding coverage with the federal government. Efforts in California, meanwhile, move forward with a $26.5 million injection from the California Endowment.
NIH Official Raises Concerns About New Psychiatry Manual
The director of the National Institute of Mental Health says the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 lacks validity, and his organization plans to launch a possible replacement diagnostic tool.
Calif. Senate Leader Readies Mental Health Service Expansion
The California Senate leader is proposing increasing mental health services to reduce how many end up in jail or ERs. In Massachusetts, officials plan greater scrutiny of how insurers cover mental health care.
The Challenge Young People Pose To The Health Law
HealthyCal reports on the importance of enrolling the so-called “young invincibles” in health care plans. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports on a new court case against the health law based on arguments the plaintiff says were not part of the Supreme Court’s review last summer.
