Latest KFF Health News Stories
Colorado Insurance Exchange Week One: Few Enrollments, Lots Of Interest
Despite a relatively low number of people buying coverage in its first week, the board in charge of Colorado’s health insurance exchange is generally pleased with how it’s running. Connect for Health Colorado, which is branding itself as C4HCO, says it had 162,941 unique visitors to its website October 1-7. Of those, 226 purchased health […]
Obamacare Enrollees Become Urban Legend
This story was produced in partnership with the Will the Floridians who have enrolled for Obamacare please stand up? Nearly two weeks after the federal government launched the online Health Insurance Marketplace at healthcare.gov, individuals who have successfully used the choked-up website to enroll for a subsidized health insurance plan have reached a status akin […]
How Consumers Are Navigating The Marketplaces
KHN’s Julie Appleby was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Monday discussing consumer issues with the new online insurance marketplaces that launched Oct. 1. Watch the video below. This is part of a regular Monday morning segment on Washington Journal. Tune in each week to stay informed about the latest developments in health policy.
Healthcare.gov Offers New Shopping Feature — Sort Of
With consumers in 36 states struggling to access a federal exchange website to compare health plans, the Obama administration launched a new online tool Thursday that lets users see premium estimates by state, health plan and two age categories. One of the biggest criticisms of healthcare.gov was that consumers had to create an account before they could even look to see what […]
Some Good News About Saving For Retirement Health Costs
Saving for health care after retirement is less costly than it was just a few years ago thanks to the slowed growth of health care spending. But that’s just part of the picture. A new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that Medicare beneficiaries, who are 65 years or older, would need to […]
Hawaiians Still Unable To Shop On State Exchange
Hawaii, President Barack Obama’s birthplace, has the only online health insurance marketplace that has not yet launched. Ten days after the Hawaii Health Connector was supposed to allow consumers and small employers to shop and enroll for coverage, officials are using paper applications and referring people to insurers’ websites to check prices. About 100,000 people are uninsured in Hawaii. It is […]
N.Y. Exchange Says 40,000 Have Applied For Coverage
New York’s online insurance exchange on Tuesday said more than 40,000 people have completed applications for coverage so far, though not all have chosen a health plan. Officials from the exchange, called NY State of Health, said these applicants were found eligible to buy a health plan. Nationally, nearly 80,000 people have applied for coverage in the […]
28,000 Sign Up For Health Insurance Through California’s Exchange
More than 16,000 applications on behalf of 28,700 people have been completed through the state’s insurance marketplace, Covered California, officials announced Tuesday. Executive Director Peter Lee said 16,311 applications, some representing several family members, were completed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5 and another 27,305 are in process. Lee did not specify how many of […]
Navigating The Marketplaces: Reader Questions Answered
KHN’s Julie Appleby, the Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff and Consumers’ Checkbook’s Robert Krughoff answered readers questions today about enrollment in the health law’s new insurance marketplaces. A transcript of the discussion follows. READER QUESTION: My daughter earns $22,000 a year. Her employer offers insurance. Does she have to get insurance through her employer if it’s not more […]
Join A Live Discussion Today On Washingtonpost.com
KHN’s Julie Appleby joins The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff and Consumers’ Checkbook’s Robert Krughoff to answer readers questions about enrollment in the health law’s new insurance marketplaces today at 12:00 noon ET. If you can’t participate in the discussion live, you can submit your questions in advance: http://live.washingtonpost.com/affordable-care-act-what-are-your-thoughts-and-questions.html A full transcript of the Q&A session […]
Why Some Veterinarians Have a Bone To Pick With Obamacare
Dr. Douglas Aspros says the federal health law is increasing his costs to buy medical equipment, which he has no choice but to pass onto his patients — most whom are uninsured. None of Aspros’ patients, though, will benefit from the law’s expansion of coverage. Aspros, you see, treats dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, parrots and other […]
Addressing A Dangerous Epidemic: Abuse Of Painkillers And Other Prescription Drugs
About 50 Americans die every day from a prescription drug overdose — a tally that, in most states, turns out to be more than deaths from car accidents. In a new report, “Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic,” researchers at the Trust for America’s Health found that rates of overdose and addiction doubled […]
Report: Even States Not Expanding Medicaid Will See Surge In Spending, Enrollment
Medicaid enrollment is expected to surge by nearly 12 percent next year in states expanding the program under the health law, but even states that will not expand eligibility project a 5 percent jump in the number of people enrolled in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, according to a new report issued Monday. Total federal and state […]
Seattle Hospital Sues State Over Exclusion From Exchange Plan Networks
This story was produced in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital filed suit Friday over the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s “failure to ensure adequate network coverage” in several of the health plans sold on the state’s new online insurance marketplace, called Washington Healthplanfinder. Most health plans now being sold through the state’s new health-insurance […]
Federal Insurance Marketplace Can’t Yet ‘Talk’ To State Medicaid Agencies
The health law’s online insurance exchanges were supposed to be a one-stop shop where consumers browsing for coverage could enroll in a private health plan or in Medicaid if they qualified. But that won’t happen with the federal exchange being relied upon by consumers in 36 states, at least not initially. The federal website won’t be […]
What’s In A (Domain) Name? Lookalike Site In Wash. Raises Concerns
Washington Healthplanfinder is the name of the state’s online insurance exchange. But a private insurance agency is using the domain name “washingtonhealthplanfinder.org” to sign people up for policies. Confused? State officials want to make certain consumers won’t be. “We are aware of this site and … forwarded to our Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner […]
R.I. Woman Among First To Enroll In Obamacare Exchange
Uninsured for more than five years, Leslie Peters says she was “chompin’ at the bit” to get coverage to afford regular medical care that she often has gone without. That’s why as soon as HealthSource RI, the Rhode Island online health insurance exchange, went live Tuesday, she enrolled. “I was so excited,” said Peters, who lives […]
HHS Releases List Of Premium Rates For 36 States
Consumers trying to price health insurance in the new federally run health marketplaces may have been having trouble getting through the government’s main web site, healthcare.gov, but there’s a backdoor way to see the plans that are being offered in 36 states. The Department of Health and Human Services has posted premiums for more than […]
Live Blog: Exchanges Launch, Government Shuts Down
It’s Oct. 1, which means that the online insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act are launching. But it also means that the start of the new federal fiscal year was marked by a government shutdown. KHN helps you make sense of the day’s developments on this live blog and with our coverage of […]
Marketplace Shoppers Must Pay 1st Premium By Dec. 15
Correction: An earlier version of this item misstated the forms of payment insurers are required to accept for plans sold on insurance marketplaces. The only required forms of payment are personal checks, electronic fund transfers, prepaid debit cards, cashier’s checks and money orders. Insurers may also opt to accept other forms of payment, such as credit […]
