Marissa Evans

Insurer Begins Huge Palliative Care Program

KFF Health News Original

“Person-centered care” is the buzz phrase  floating around the health care industry, and a Pacific Northwest-based giant insurer thinks it has hit the mark with a new palliative care program coming this summer. Cambia Health Solutions, which includes Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield,will offer training to providers and additional benefits for policyholders: more than 2.2 million […]

Study: Illegal Immigration Doesn’t Cause Overuse Of Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Even before the Affordable Care Act was close to passing, it was clear that immigrants illegally living in the country would not be part of many of the law’s benefits. They are not allowed to buy health insurance from the online marketplaces, at least in part because opponents argued that these immigrants overburden emergency rooms and hospitals. But a study released […]

Oregon To Feds: Give Tax Credits To Shoppers Who Bypassed Troubled Exchange

KFF Health News Original

Two officials from the Oregon governor’s office were on a mission in D.C. Tuesday — trying to get a federal go-ahead to compensate individuals who purchased insurance on their own because of the breakdown of the state’s health care exchange. Sean Kolmer, the governor’s health policy adviser, and Dan Carol, director of multi-state and strategic […]

1.46 Million Determined To Be Eligible for Medicaid And CHIP In October

KFF Health News Original

After two months of media shellacking, healthcare.gov website woes and a series of skeptical congressional grillings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was accentuating the positive, noting the jump in the number of people eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 1.46 million people were determined eligible for Medicaid or […]

Emails Ask Those Who Failed To Try Healthcare.gov Again

KFF Health News Original

Roughly 275,000 “come back, we miss you” emails will be sent in waves this week encouraging consumers who couldn’t create an account or log-in to the  malfunctioning Healthcare.gov website to try again, officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Tuesday. The announcement comes as the agency is working to meet a self-imposed […]

Survey: Americans Have Low Health Insurance Literacy

KFF Health News Original

Premium, deductible, copay, all basic health insurance terms many Americans don’t understand, according to a recent poll. More than half could not correctly define at least one of these common financial terms related to health insurance, according to poll results released by the American Institute of CPAs. Ernie Almonte, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA […]

CDC Study: Schools Are Getting Healthier

KFF Health News Original

Nowadays, the hub for developing healthy habits isn’t just the gym or home. For kids, at least, it’s increasingly their schools, according to a study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School districts across the country are demonstrating a range of improvements in terms of nutrition, exercise and tobacco policies. For instance, after […]