Health-Law Test To Cut Readmissions Lacks Early Results
Results so far show community agencies haven’t made a big difference in keeping seniors from making return hospital trips. But administration officials say the program has plenty of potential.
Big Investments For ACA Innovation Lab, But Most Results Still Pending
Some 2.5 million patients are involved in federally funded tests to control costs and reduce injuries, but data on most programs still aren’t available.
Rx For Reform: NC Pharmacists Try To Boost Health And Cut Costs
The federal government has invested $15 million in a North Carolina experiment that gives community pharmacists a new role in patient care.
Small Businesses Drop Coverage As Health Law Offers Alternatives
Small employers are canceling medical plans and leaving workers to buy insurance through the law’s online marketplaces — sometimes to everyone’s benefit.
Obamacare Creates Boom For Federal Contractors
Surging contracts related to the Affordable Care Act have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services a fount of revenue for private business.
HHS’s Contracting Bonanza in 8 Charts
The Affordable Care Act and related programs have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services the No. 3 federal agency for outsourcing work to private business, after the Pentagon and the Energy Department.
Administration Warns Employers: Don’t Dump Sick Workers From Plans
Paying high-risk employees to buy exchange plans is declared illegal.
HHS Formally Moves To Close Loophole Allowing Plans Without Hospital Benefits
The new proposed rule would bar such plans that had once qualified under a federal calculator.
Big Changes For 2015 Workplace Plans: Watch Out For These Six Possible Pitfalls
Consumers who get health insurance through their employers need to pay close attention this year to their enrollment materials.
How Employers Are Getting Ready For Open Enrollment
Some large employers will face penalties if they don’t offer workers health insurance in 2015. In addition, workers can expect to see increased cost-sharing and employers pushing them to “private exchanges” to save money.
Obama Administration Closing Health Law Loophole For Plans Without Hospitalization
Moving to close what many see as a major loophole in Affordable Care Act rules, the Obama administration will ban large-employer medical plans from qualifying under the law if they don’t offer hospitalization coverage.
Administration Signals Doubts About Calculator Permitting Plans Without Hospital Benefits
he Obama administration may reverse course on an online spreadsheet that lets large employers comply with the health law by offering what consumer advocates call substandard insurance.
Debate Grows Over Employer Plans With No Hospital Benefits
Some insurance pros say the administration intended such coverage to meet Obamacare’s “minimum value” standard. Others disagree, and the government stays silent.
Flaw In Federal Software Lets Employers Offer Plans Without Hospital Benefits, Consultants Say
Problems with a government calculator that companies use to prove that their insurance meets health law standards could allow substandard policies, consumer advocates say.
Census Bureau: Health Costs Inch Up As Obamacare Kicks In
Health and social spending as measured by the Census Bureau grew by only 3.7 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014.
Early Results: Average 2015 Exchange Premiums Decline Slightly
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan. Prices for a benchmark “silver” or mid-priced plan sold through the health law’s online marketplaces aren’t all moving […]
16% Of Large Employers Plan To Offer Low-Benefit ‘Skinny’ Plans Despite ACA: Survey
The National Business Group on Health also found, based on 136 large employers’ responses, a continued move toward high-deductible, “consumer-directed” plans.
Washington’s $10 Billion Search For Health Care’s Next Big Ideas
A little-known office tests ways to improve care, but some wonder whether its achievements will match its budget.
Hospital, Insurer Earnings Show Mixed Messages About Health Spending
Hints of cost spikes matter because much is riding on spending forecasts.
Biggest Insurer Drops Caution, Embraces Obamacare
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) UnitedHealthcare, the insurance giant that largely sat out the health law’s online marketplaces’ first year, said Thursday it may sell policies through the exchanges in nearly half the states next year. “We plan to grow next year as we expand our offering to as many as two […]
