Latest KFF Health News Stories
No Time To See The Doctor? Try A Virtual Visit
Patients looking for convenient medical appointments can now see UCLA Health System doctors using their cell phones, computers or tablets. It’s part of an ongoing effort at UCLA and elsewhere to extend alternatives to the in-person doctor visit to busy consumers outside rural areas. The doctors are available through LiveHealth Online, an already-existing service designed for […]
CDC Survey Finds Drop In Uninsured
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) UPDATED AT 12:10 P.M. The federal government’s first survey of the nation’s insured rate since the health care law’s new marketplaces began found a decrease in the number of adults without coverage, particularly among young adults. The National Health Interview Survey of people during the first […]
California Exchange Seeks To Enroll 500,000 More People
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Covered California, the Golden State’s online health insurance marketplace, announced Monday that it will be spending close to $100 million as it aims to enroll 500,000 new people during the second round of open enrollment, which begins in two months. The state also will be trying […]
Apparent Retail Glitch Triggers Copays For Birth Control
CVS Health is investigating a potential glitch in its drug pricing system that appears to have charged women copayments for prescription birth control – though the scope of the error is unclear. The problem came to the attention of Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., after one of her staffers attempted to buy generic prescription birth control […]
Women’s Groups Challenge GOP Candidates On OTC Birth Control
Women’s health groups are launching a counterattack against suggestions by several Republican Senate candidates that making birth control pills available without a prescription is the answer to the dispute over contraceptive coverage rules in the health law. At least four Republicans running for the U.S. Senate have proposed over-the-counter pills in recent weeks, including Ed […]
Open Payments Database: Despite Criticism, Still On Track To Let The Sunshine In
Despite technical glitches, the federal “Open Payments” database – which tracks pharmaceutical company contributions to doctors and teaching hospitals – remains on track for its scheduled Sept. 30 launch, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed. It was mandated by a sunshine act included in the federal health law seeking to ease concerns that […]
Health Law Not The Reason For Republican Election Enthusiasm, Poll Finds
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Heading into the 2014 mid-term congressional elections, health care is not shaping up as a make-or-break issue, according to a new poll. Health care trails jobs and the economy as a top issue on voters’ minds this fall, 21 percent to 13 percent. Only 3 percent […]
$60 Million For 34 States To Boost Obamacare Enrollment
Two Planned Parenthood chapters, two United Way organizations, a food bank association and a Catholic hospital system are among 90 nonprofit groups that will receive a total of $60 million to help people sign up for health insurance, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today. The money will help people in 34 states that rely on […]
Early Results: Average 2015 Exchange Premiums Decline Slightly
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan. Prices for a benchmark “silver” or mid-priced plan sold through the health law’s online marketplaces aren’t all moving […]
DC Appeals Court Agrees To Rehear Case That Could Cripple Health Law
The controversial federal court decision that threatened the future of the Affordable Care Act is no more. The full District of Columbia Court of Appeals Thursday agreed to rehear Halbig v. Burwell, a case charging that the federal government lacks the authority to provide consumers tax credits in health insurance exchanges not run by states. […]
Five States To Get Early Access To Small Business Health Insurance Marketplace
This copyrighted story comes from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , produced in partnership with KHN. All rights reserved. Businesses in five states will get an early look at the federal health insurance marketplace for small businesses, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced Wednesday. The states are Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey and Delaware. Businesses […]
Victory In Mass. Health Costs May Be Temporary
This story is part of a partnership that includes WBUR, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) Two years ago, Massachusetts set what was considered an ambitious goal: The state would not let that persistent monster, rising health care costs, increase faster than the economy as a whole. Today, […]
Indiana, Several Other States Look To Expand Medicaid Next Year
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Who’s next? With the long-awaited deal to expand Medicaid finally struck last week between Pennsylvania and the Obama administration, 27 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a key coverage plank of the Affordable Care Act. And the momentum continues to grow in Republican-led states […]
Federal Judge Blocks Texas Restriction On Abortion Clinics
This story is part of a partnership that includes Houston Public Media, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) In a highly anticipated ruling, a federal judge in Austin struck down part of a Texas law that would have required all abortion clinics in the state to meet the same standards as […]
Another Audit Finds Fault With Nursing Home Inspections In Los Angeles County
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Los Angeles County public health officials inappropriately closed nursing home investigations and failed to follow state guidelines on prioritizing complaints, according to an audit released this week. The Los Angeles County auditor-controller also found that even after nursing home inspectors found serious problems, their supervisors downgraded […]
In Texas, New Doctor-Restrictive Abortion Law Could Kick In Monday
This story is part of a partnership that includes Houston Public Media, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) A federal judge in Austin, Texas, will issue a decision in the next few days about whether clinics that perform abortion in the state must become outpatient surgery centers. The Texas […]
Urgent Care Centers Opening For People With Mental lllness
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Hoping to keep more people with mental illness out of jails and emergency rooms, county health officials opened a mental health urgent care center Wednesday in South Los Angeles. The goal of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Mental Health Urgent Care Center is to stabilize and treat people in immediate crisis […]
CBO Projects Lower Medicare and Medicaid Costs
Reduced costs for medical services and labor have trimmed the 10-year projected cost of Medicare and Medicaid by $89 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. Medicare spending is projected to drop by $49 billion — or less than 1 percent — from 2015 and 2024, while Medicaid spending is expected to drop by $40 […]
Report: Health Law Ups Taxes On Insurers With Big Pay Packages
While average compensation for top health insurance executives hit $5.4 million each last year, a little-noticed provision in the federal health law sharply reduced insurers’ ability to shield much of that pay from corporate taxes, says a report out today. As a result, insurers owed at least $72 million more to the U.S. Treasury last […]
Has Health Law Helped Young People Get Mental Health Treatment? Maybe
Mental health issues like depression, anxiety and substance abuse often start in adolescence, then peak in young adulthood. But for young people who don’t have steady jobs or stable paychecks, getting help can be tough. A popular provision of the Affordable Care Act that took effect in 2010 aimed to make it easier for young […]
