Michelle Andrews

Health Law’s Aim: Multiple Vaccines For More People

KFF Health News Original

Adults need vaccines to protect against serious diseases, including shingles, pneumonia and hepatitis. The health reform law, with its emphasis on prevention, will expand coverage to improve vaccination rates, currently too low.

OTC Medicines Cut From 2011 Flexible Spending Accounts

KFF Health News Original

Beginning in 2011, the new health law bars payments for over items such as aspirin, vitamins and cough medicine from the popular accounts set up with pretax dollars. Consumers can still get the coverage with a prescription.

New Laws Expand Mental Health Coverage

KFF Health News Original

Insurance coverage of mental illness and addiction problems often is skimpier than for physical illness. But that is changing with the mental health parity law that took effect earlier this year and the new health overhaul.

Coordinated Care System Helps Physicians Meet More Patient Needs

KFF Health News Original

In medical home model, a primary-care doctor leads a team responsible for coordinating and managing all of your care, whether it’s making sure you’re on top of routine lab tests to keep your diabetes in check or being available in off hours to handle unexpected problems.

Key Health Law Provisions Begin Sept. 23

KFF Health News Original

Some insurers have already altered their plans to reflect the law. But starting this month, a number of provisions become mandatory for insurance plans, including a ban on lifetime benefit limits and the ability to keep adult children on parents’ plans.

Health Law Requires Continued Coverage For Patients In Clinical Trials

KFF Health News Original

In the past, many patients who opted for experimental treatments for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses found that their insurance companies stop covering all routine care for their illness. The health overhaul mandates that insurers continue to pay for doctor visits, hospital stays, test and other routine treatments.

Out Of Network ER Visits Won’t Cost More Under New Health Law

KFF Health News Original

The health overhaul prohibits new insurance plans from charging higher copayments or coinsurance amounts for out-of-network emergency services or from imposing other coverage limitations that wouldn’t apply to in-network care.