Latest KFF Health News Stories
Which Hospitals Score Best On Medicare’s Quality Measures?
On NPR’s Morning Edition today, KHN’s Jordan Rau discussed the new quality data released by Medicare Thursday and what types of hospitals scored best and worst. Listen to the conversation below. http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=245254951&m=245358669&t=audio
Supporters and opponents of the federal health law still can’t decide whether to call it the “woodwork” or “welcome mat” effect — the millions of people currently eligible for Medicaid who are not enrolled and who are expected to sign up as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The Obama administration’s first enrollment report released […]
Video: Health Law Offers Help For Many With Chronic Illness
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey once again joined PBS NewsHour to discuss the implementation of the 2010 health law. Wednesday night’s program focused on what the law means for consumers with preexisting health conditions. Watch the report in the video player above.
California Bright Spot In Obamacare, Makes Up One-Third Of All Marketplace Enrollees
Nearly 60,000 Californians have enrolled in insurance plans under the nation’s health law since its launch on Oct. 1, officials from the state’s marketplace announced Wednesday. Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said the early numbers exceeded his expectations. “We’re very pleased with the momentum,” he said. “Consumers are doing their shopping … They are […]
Strange Pricing Details Can Bedevil Medicare Beneficiaries
Pharmacist Gina Upchurch knows all the ins and outs of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and was sure she discovered something very wrong: using the government’s online plan finder tool to help seniors compare dozens of 2014 drug policies, she noticed that some insurers charge higher prices for a prescription filled every two or three months […]
Why Some People Can’t Keep Their Insurance Plans
On PBS NewsHour Tuesday, KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey discussed why insurers are canceling many individual insurance policies, the political fallout and what options consumers have for finding affordable insurance plans. Watch the report in the video player above.
Medicaid Chief Thanks State Leaders, Even As They Skip Expansion Option
It wasn’t all hugs and kisses, but the nation’s top Medicaid official on Tuesday told Medicaid directors from around the country that she was proud of the job they were all doing — even though half of their states opted against expanding the state-federal health insurance program for the poor under the health law. “Hats off […]
Emails Ask Those Who Failed To Try Healthcare.gov Again
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 […]
Washington State To 8,000 Obamacare Enrollees: We Goofed On Cost Estimate
This story was produced in partnership with About 8,000 Washington residents will soon receive letters informing them that the price they are expecting to pay for health insurance purchased on the new online exchange marketplace is incorrect. The letters are part of an effort by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which operates the exchange, to […]
Conn. Governor To Feds: Get Your Act Together On Healthcare.gov
Gov. Dannel Malloy said the rollout of Obamacare in Connecticut has been a success — but it would be a bigger success if the federal health marketplace weren’t doing so badly. “I hope that the federal folks get their act together in the remainder of the month, because I’m tired of sharing their bad news […]
Make Tax Day Also Enrollment Deadline, One Health Expert Says
With one small fix, the administration could satisfy calls from some members of Congress to extend the time people have to enroll in new health insurance through online marketplaces, a health policy expert says. The fix would not create problems in the industry and would move the deadline to a point when many people have […]
Retail Clinics Boom, But Still Small Part Of Overall Market
Convenience. Accessibility. Peace of mind. Those were the things Reza Marashi was looking for a year ago when he was searching for a new medical provider. As the 32-year-old sat in the One Medical Group waiting room in Washington, D.C., for his annual check-up, he said that the ease of making appointments and communicating with […]
Humana Exec Predicts Obamacare Open Enrollment Extension
Humana, one of nation’s largest health insurers, said Wednesday that it expects the Obama administration to extend open enrollment for its troubled online marketplaces beyond March 31. But a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Julie Bataille, said, “Consumers still have ample time to enroll in the six-month open enrollment period.” Millions […]
Obama Administration Hoping 800K Enroll By End Of November
About 800,000 people are expected to enroll in the new online health insurance marketplaces by the end of November, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said Tuesday at a congressional hearing. A CMS official said later that estimate includes people signing up for Medicaid as well as private insurance. In a testimony […]
17 Million People Eligible For Premium Subsidies, Study Finds
Seventeen million people who are now uninsured or who buy their own health insurance will be eligible for tax credits next year to help purchase coverage on the health law’s online marketplaces or exchanges, according to an analysis released Tuesday. More than a third of those people live in just three states: California with nearly […]
Study Points To “Imbalance” In Spending On Doctor Training
Florida and New York have roughly the same population, but New York has five times as many Medicare-sponsored residency training positions and seven times the Medicare funding graduate medical education. The numbers give a glimpse into the “imbalance” in how Medicare distributes its $10 billion a year for graduate medical education (GME), according to a study […]
N.Y. Hospital Group Turns The Tables On Hospital Graders
Judge not, that ye be not judged. Irked by the growing number of report cards assessing the quality of hospitals, a New York state hospital association has taken this biblical admonition to heart by putting out a report card grading the quality of hospital graders. Five of the 10 report cards that were evaluated were given […]
Health Insurance Sign Ups Are New Service At Annual Free Clinic In L.A.
LOS ANGELES — Drawn by the promise of free health care, residents from throughout Southern California flocked to the L.A. Sports Arena beginning Thursday to get their cavities filled, blood pressure checked and eyes tested. The Care Harbor L.A. event, in its fifth year, expects to treat about 3,750 people over four days. But this […]
Healthcare.gov Troubles Don’t Change Public’s View Of Health Law, Poll Finds
The public has a dim view of how the government has rolled out the health care law so far, but those stumbles have not changed people’s overall opinions of the law itself, a new poll finds. The Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 48 percent of people think the federal government has done a poor […]
Rep. Ryan And CMS Chief Tavenner’s Exchange Muddles Subsidies For Young Adults
In a contentious House Ways and Means Committee hearing Tuesday about the problem-plagued launch of the federal health insurance exchange, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, managed to agree about one thing: Young adults who have access to their parents’ health insurance can’t get subsidies if […]
