Latest KFF Health News Stories
Iowa Opens The Doors To Medicaid Coverage, On Its Own Terms
At the Central Iowa Shelter and Services in Des Moines, Iowa, health insurance navigator Andrea Pearce stood in a crowded dining hall on a recent day, shouting instructions on how residents can sign up for Medicaid. “If you do not have insurance and you want to enroll and you have an e-mail address where you […]
Alabama Blue Cross Shares Obamacare Tax Woes With Customers
Insurance companies aren’t crazy about their share of the health law’s taxes, but mostly they’ve complained to politicians and regulators. At least one health plan wants to bring consumers into the loop. “Affordable Care Act Fees and Taxes” is a separate line item on bills Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is sending to individual […]
Explaining Why Obama Let More Consumers Buy Catastrophic Plans
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey was on PBS NewsHour Friday to talk about the Obama administration’s plan to allow people who had their health insurance plans canceled to buy so-called “catastrophic” plans, which that are cheaper than ordinary plans but provide less coverage than others being sold under the Affordable Care Act. See video of the […]
Catastrophic Obamacare Policies Prove Hard Sell So Far
The Obama administration’s decision this week to allow people to buy catastrophic-level policies if their individual health plans had been canceled comes amid reports that few people have bought these less expensive policies sold in new online insurance marketplaces. In California, only 1 percent of those who had picked a plan in the first two months since the marketplace opened […]
N.C. Navigator: We Didn’t Break The Rules
Navigators aren’t allowed to mail paper applications for health insurance to the federal government on behalf of consumers. Kaiser Health News learned that the hard way after Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., cited an October KHN blog post in a report about risks of fraud among navigators. We incorrectly reported that navigators with North Carolina nonprofit […]
Website Repairs Have Not Bolstered Support For The Health Law, Poll Finds
Improvements in the government’s insurance Web portal have not translated into stronger public support for the health law, a new poll shows. Nearly half of the public views the law unfavorably this month, while only a third likes it. That’s about the same as in November, when public opinion plummeted after the technologically troubled start […]
After Exposure, Security Holes Sealed In Minnesota’s Health Exchange
A security flaw has been fixed on MNsure, Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace — one that had left users vulnerable to data interception by hackers. The fix follows an MPR story last week and a meeting Monday between forensic analyst Mark Lanterman and the state’s chief information security officer, Chris Buse. At the meeting, Lanterman explained how he discovered the […]
Study: It’s All Healthy People — Not Just Young Adults — Who Are Critical To ACA Success
Pushing back against those who warn that low levels of younger subscribers could threaten coverage sold under the health law, analysts for the Kaiser Family Foundation say enrollment of young adults “is not as important as conventional wisdom suggests.” Even if insurance pools contain only 25 percent young adults rather than the hoped-for 40 percent, […]
Latest Federal Rules, Requests Put New Pressure On Insurers, Says Moody’s
Insurers responded softly if not sweetly to the Obama administration’s latest requests and rule changes for individuals trying to buy coverage in online marketplaces by Jan. 1. Moody’s Investor Service, which is watching Obamacare from the outside, isn’t so tactful. The latest changes “impose additional financial risks” on the companies, Moody’s said in a Monday […]
Californians Continuing To Flock To New Insurance Exchange
Enrollment in California’s new health insurance marketplace is picking up speed, with more than 156,000 signed up for coverage through last week, officials announced Thursday. Nearly a third of the enrollees – 49,700 – completed their applications during the first week of December. “The momentum is very positive,” Peter Lee, executive director of Covered […]
Marketplace Plans’ Networks Are Very Small, Study Finds
To keep premium prices down for individuals and small businesses buying coverage through new online marketplaces, insurers have created smaller networks of hospitals. But consumers and policy experts have wondered, just how small? Turns out, many are very small. “About two-thirds of hospital networks on the exchanges are narrow or ultra-narrow,” said Paul Mango, a director at the consulting […]
Obesity Rate Flat For First Time In Decades, Health Rankings Find
An annual state-by-state survey says the country is making good progress in improving its overall health — including a flat obesity rate and a lower rate of smoking. But individual states, especially in the South, continue to lag. The 2013 edition of “America’s Health Rankings” by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and […]
West Virginia, Virgin Islands, Work Together On Medicaid
West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands don’t have much in common. It was 82 degrees and sunny today in St. Thomas, while Charleston, W.Va., saw snow and a high of 32. But when it comes to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, the Mountain State and Caribbean territory are now joined […]
Iowa Wins Approval To Expand Medicaid By Using Federal Funds To Buy Private Plans
The Obama administration Tuesday granted Iowa much of what it requested to move forward with a Medicaid expansion through the use of private insurance plans but refused to allow the state to charge premiums for those who earn less than the federal poverty level. If the state accepts the terms of the agreement, it would […]
Medicare Beneficiaries Have Good Access To Doctors, Study Finds
As key congressional committees consider legislation to repeal Medicare’s physician payment formula, a new study shows that the program’s beneficiaries have generally good access to doctors. The report, prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 96 percent of beneficiaries report having access to a doctor’s office or clinic, and about 90 percent of beneficiaries […]
Report: Most States Do A Poor Job Informing Consumers About Physician Quality
When it comes to providing consumers with easily accessible information about physician quality, a report out today gave most states grades of ‘D’ or ‘F,’ often because they compile data only about primary care doctors, not specialists. Washington state and Minnesota were the only states that got an A from the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, a […]
Rehospitalization Rates Fell In First Year Of Medicare Penalties
During the first eight months of this year, fewer than 18 percent of Medicare patients ended up back in the hospital within a month of discharge, the lowest rate in years, the government reported Friday. This drop occurred during the first year that Medicare financially penalized hospitals for their readmission rates, and the government seized […]
Does Knowing Medical Prices Save Money? CalPERS Experiment Says Yes
The fact that the cost of a hip replacement can ring up as $15,000 or $100,000 — depending on the hospital — makes a lot of people uncomfortable. But that’s only if they know about the wide price tag variations. In an effort to raise awareness and rein in what can seem like the Wild […]
Canceled California Customers Coveting New Insurance Plans
This comes from our partner, KQED’s State of Health blog. Some Californians whose policies have been canceled are finding relief in a surprising place: from insurance companies that aren’t offering plans on the new Covered California marketplace. Earlier this year, Aetna announced it would bow out of the state’s individual market, effective Dec. 31. Cigna […]
Obamacare Outreach Is On Wheels In Mississippi
In Mississippi, as in the 35 other states where healthcare.gov is running the enrollment show, it hasn’t been easy to sign up for the health law’s new insurance options. That’s a political problem for Democrats and a personal problem for the uninsured — but it’s a business problem for the companies that are trying to […]
