Julie Rovner

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jrovner@kff.org
@jrovner

What CDC Can Do To Fight Ebola

KFF Health News Original

The Ebola epidemic in Africa and fears of it spreading in the U.S. have turned the nation’s attention to the federal government’s front-line public health agency: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But as with Ebola itself, there is much confusion about the role of the CDC and what it can and cannot do to prevent and contain the spread of disease.

Women’s Groups Challenge GOP Candidates On OTC Birth Control

KFF Health News Original

Women’s health groups are launching a counterattack against suggestions by several Republican Senate candidates that making birth control pills available without a prescription is the answer to the dispute over contraceptive coverage rules in the health law. At least four Republicans running for the U.S. Senate have proposed over-the-counter pills in recent weeks, including Ed […]

Health Law Not The Reason For Republican Election Enthusiasm, Poll Finds

KFF Health News Original

This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Heading into the 2014 mid-term congressional elections, health care is not shaping up as a make-or-break issue, according to a new poll. Health care trails jobs and the economy as a top issue on voters’ minds this fall, 21 percent to 13 percent. Only  3 percent […]

DC Appeals Court Agrees To Rehear Case That Could Cripple Health Law

KFF Health News Original

The controversial federal court decision that threatened the future of the Affordable Care Act is no more. The full District of Columbia Court of Appeals Thursday agreed to rehear Halbig v. Burwell, a case charging that the federal government lacks the authority to provide consumers tax credits in health insurance exchanges not run by states. […]

Appeals Courts Split On Legality Of Subsidies For Affordable Care Act

KFF Health News Original

The D.C. circuit struck down the administration’s decision to offer financial help for lower-income consumers buying coverage on the federal insurance marketplace. But the 4th Circuit court in Richmond, Va., said the subsidies were valid.

High Court Rules Anti-Abortion Group Can Sue Over Election ‘Truth-Telling’ Law

KFF Health News Original

A group challenging an Ohio election law that makes it a crime to make “false statements” about a candidate’s record during a campaign has standing to challenge the constitutionality of that law, according to today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, did NOT strike down Ohio’s false statement law. But […]

Medicare Could Save Billions By Scrapping Random Drug Plan Assignment

KFF Health News Original

A new study finds that Medicare is spending billions of dollars more than it needs to on prescription drugs for low-income seniors and disabled beneficiaries. In 2013, an estimated 10 million people who participate in the Medicare prescription drug program, known as Part D, received government subsidies to help pay for that coverage. They account […]