Latest KFF Health News Stories
UnitedHealth Issues Warning Over Medicare Advantage Cuts
UnitedHealth attributed a 14 percent drop in profits in the first quarter to higher medical costs. The nation’s largest insurer also warned that cuts to Medicare Advantage plans could hamper its earnings growth next year.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Vladeck Urges Obama Administration To Act On Home Health Worker Overtime Rule
Bruce C. Vladeck, a former Medicare and Medicaid administrator, urged the Obama administration to take action on a proposed rule regarding overtime and minimum wage for in-home health care workers.
‘Wired Colleagues’ Tell All To FBI About Alleged Medicare Kickbacks At Chicago Hospital
Medscape reports on a series of arrests that were made April 16.
State Highlights: Conn. Officials Want Stricter Limit On Insurer Markup
A selection of health policy stories from Kansas, Connecticut, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Texas, Florida, Minnesota and California.
State Organizations, Officials Advance Health Law Implementation Positions
In Florida, the state hospital association is pressing for a cost-benefit analysis before lawmakers take a final vote on Medicaid expansion, and in Ohio, GOP lawmakers leave the door open for a move later this year.
Research Roundup: Community Benefits and Hospitals’ Tax-Exempt Status
This week’s studies come from The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, The Kaiser Family Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other news outlets.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new plan released by the Bipartisan Policy Center to reduce health spending.
A Health Law Architect Worries That Public Confusion Could Lead To ‘Train Wreck’
At a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee Hearing, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about what the administration is doing to educate the public as it rolls out key provisions of the law.
Ark. Medicaid Expansion Plan Survives Gains State Legislators’ Final OK
The GOP-controlled legislature narrowly approved the compromise that would use federal funds to buy private insurance for low-income residents.
Study Finds Tax-Exempt Hospitals Spend Little On ‘Community Benefit’
New research also offers insights regarding the value of patient satisfaction as a quality indicator and the impact that context has on improving care.
Former Congressional Staffer Faces Scrutiny In Medicare Advantage Leak
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, continues asking questions about a recent Medicare Advantage leak that reverberated through the stock market, while members of the Senate Finance Committee react to the Medicare funding reductions advanced by President Barack Obama.
Kids Mental Health Cuts At Issue In Mass.; Colo. Mulls Mental Illness ‘Hold’ Laws
Massachusetts officials are planning hearings about the Cambridge Health Alliance’s planned cuts to pediatric services — mainly to mental health care, while Colorado lawmakers consider their “involuntary hold” laws governing the treatment and holding of mentally ill people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Medical Costs After Boston Bombing Could Tally Into Millions
Boston — with its many centrally located medical facilities — was primed to care for the victims of this week’s Boston Marathon bombing. In the meantime, the medical bills for the trauma care given after the bombing could tally into the millions, some estimate.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
State Roundup: D.C. Delegate Joins Abortion Bill Fight
A selection of health policy stories from California, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon and Colorado.
Implementation: Tax Subsidy Projections, Finding Money For High-Risk Pools
Health law backers question the predictions of insurance “rate shock,” because they are made by actuaries who have close ties to the industry. Meanwhile, news outlets report on a study that projects who will get the health law’s tax subsidies on a state-by-state basis.
Longer Looks: Problems With Aging Doctors; Transplants From Donors With HIV
This week’s articles come from The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, The New York World, Slate and NewsHour.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports from Capitol Hill about one Democratic senator’s poor reviews of the Obama administration’s progress in implementing the health law.
Hospitals Profit When Surgeries Go Wrong, Study Finds
The study, which was published Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that hospitals earned 330 percent higher profit margins on surgeries with one or more complications, because private insurers pay them for longer stays and extra care.
