Phil Galewitz

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pgalewitz@kff.org
@philgalewitz

HHS Launching Health Website For Consumers This Week

KFF Health News Original

A new federal website will give consumers a list of all private and government health care plans for individuals and small businesses in their areas. Insurers and advocacy groups are clashing over the data to be provided.

‘Door Knockers’ Help Uninsured Kids Get Coverage

KFF Health News Original

The “Walkers/Talkers” program in New Orleans sends workers into the poorest neighborhoods to find uninsured children and then helps sign them up for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

What The New Health Law Means For You

KFF Health News Original

The law will extend health insurance to 32 million currently uninsured Americans by 2019, and will also have an impact on how nearly every American buys insurance and what insurance must cover.

Experts Worry: Could Government Loans To Doctors Raise Health Costs?

KFF Health News Original

More than $2.5 billion in government-backed loans to doctors, dentists and other health care providers is helping to stimulate the economy and help patients, but some health experts say the money could increase health costs.

Lobbyists Have Long Wish List For New Health Rules

KFF Health News Original

Now that the health care bill is law, an array of groups — representing doctors, insurers, small businesses and others — have switched to their post-passage game plans. Among their top goals: Helping shape the all-important regulations being written by the Obama administration.

Despite Federal Help, States Struggle To Move People Out Of Nursing Homes

KFF Health News Original

A program, known as “Money Follows the Person,” aims to help elderly and disabled people in nursing homes live on their own and save tens of millions of dollars for Medicaid. But many states are having trouble finding affordable housing, and fewer than 6,000 people have moved. The goal is 37,000 by 2013.

Consumers Guide To Health Reform

KFF Health News Original

The new health reform law will extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, but also has an effect on almost every citizen. Here’s how the law might affect you.

Coverage For Sick Kids Under Question In New Law

KFF Health News Original

The Obama administration says the new health overhaul law bans insurers this year from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing illnesses. Insurers say that’s not their interpretation of the law.

Novel Health Programs Try To Help Uninsured

KFF Health News Original

Gold Dust Saloon owner Ruth McDonald uses an innovative “three share” model to provide health coverage for her workers. The restaurant is one of 30 employers in a Colorado program that provides low-cost coverage to small businesses.

How Health Reform Could Affect The ‘Young Invincibles’

KFF Health News Original

Under the health bills being debated in Congress, young adults would be required to buy insurance – but they could buy low-cost “catastrophic” plans, requiring high deductibles. That’s igniting a fierce debate whether young adults – sometimes known as the “young invincibles” – would benefit from such plans.

Sebelius To GOP: ‘Don’t Get Wrong Impression’ About Obama Health Summit

KFF Health News Original

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that President Obama’s Feb. 25 bipartisan summit is to “get Republicans to re-engage in the process. It is not acceptable that half the legislative body pushed away from the table months ago and said ‘we do not want to participate.'”

Millions More Children Added To Medicaid, CHIP Rolls In 2009

KFF Health News Original

A new study shows that, compared to last year, an additional 2.6 million children are now enrolled in the federal-state coverage programs, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).