Latest KFF Health News Stories
Current Policies For Small Businesses, Individuals May Not Meet Health Law Standards
Officials fear that when these plans are cancelled, it could cause confusion. Also, The Wall Street Journal offers a look at the issues confronting small business owners.
Calif.’s High Court Weighs Who Can Administer Insulin Shots In School
The justices appear cool to the idea that only licensed nurses should be able to give the shots, despite arguments by the state nurses association.
Republicans Double Down On IRS Role In Carrying Out Health Law
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he plans to focus on the need to repeal Obamacare in light of the IRS targeting scandal, while witnesses at an IRS hearing Wednesday posed sometimes ticklish questions about how the health law’s individual mandate will be enforced.
Viewpoints: Obamacare Is Already Working; George W. Bush On ‘Personal Responsibility’
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Competition, Narrow Networks Key To Exchange Premiums
California Healthline reports that among the reasons for Covered California’s lower-than-expected insurance rates are the inclusion of plans that exclude some of the state’s best-known providers, while the Washington Post wonders how competition can work in New Hampshire’s online marketplace where only one plan may sell policies.
Immigrants Help Medicare Stay Solvent, Study Finds
Immigrants to the U.S. contributed $115.2 billion more to Medicare’s Hospital Trust Fund during the past decade than they withdrew, casting doubt on criticism they overburden the health plan for the elderly and disabled, according to a study by researchers from Harvard and the City University of New York.
For Family Caregivers, Older Americans Act Provides Help
PBS reports on this legislation, which is not well known.
A selection of health policy stories from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Idaho, Oregon and Florida.
Study Finds Health Law Is Helping Protect Young Adults From High Bills
The RAND Corp. research finds that the law’s provision allowing children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ health plans resulted in $147 million in hospital bills to be covered by insurance.
Longer Reads: How To Choose A Hospital; Empowered Patients Cost More; The ‘War On Sleep’
This week’s articles come from The Atlantic, Time, The New Yorker, Forbes and Slate.
N.Y. Hospital Alleged To Have Pressured Heiress For Donations
The New York Times reports that survivors of a copper heiress who lived in the Beth Israel Medical Center for the last 20 years of her life say she was coerced to give the hospital money.
Medicaid Expansion: Ariz. Foes Look To Voter Referendum, N.H. Fight Brewing
Meanwhile, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown tells county officials that the state cannot afford to “double-pay” as he seeks to expand California’s health care program for the poor, and New Hampshire lawmakers set up a fight over the expansion.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations include stories about a new study on immigrants’ financial impact on the Medicare program and a new federal regulation on wellness programs.
Final Rule Upholds Increased Rewards, Penalties For Wellness Participation
Employers will be able to increase rewards to workers who participate in wellness programs under final rules released Wednesday by the Obama administration.
House GOP Members Unveil Draft ‘Doc Fix’ Plan
The plan would repeal the contentious SGR formula for reimbursing doctors but does not include a way to pay for that. Also in the House, a Democrat and a Republican introduce a bill to create national exercise guidelines.
Study Details Medicare Spending Variations
The analysis finds health differences explain as much as 85 percent of cost variations around the country.
Study Finds Rise in Accidental Marijuana Ingestion By Children In Colo.
The report in JAMA Pediatrics looked at children who accidentally ate marijuana and needed emergency treatment.
States Deal With Hospitals’ Structural, Financial Issues
Hospitals in the District of Columbia, New York and Louisiana deal with “structural challenges” cost-sharing and other funding issues.
Calif. Docs Worry State Psych Hospital Staffing Shortage Could Harm Care
Meanwhile, in Vermont, the state’s largest health insurer and psychiatric hospital will integrate mental health care with traditional care.
Calif. Senate OKs Measure Expanding Nurse Practitioners’ Role
California lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow nurse practitioners to practice more independently amid health care provider shortage worries. The bill would allow the practitioners to have stand-alone practices, among other things.
