Latest KFF Health News Stories
Study: Competition, Not Need, Drives Hospital Cardiac Care Investment
U.S. hospitals spent up to $4 billion adding angioplasty services over a four year period, but the new services did little to improve access to timely medical care, says a study published Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Between 2004 to 2008, some 251 hospitals added the invasive and often life-saving cardiac […]
Medicare Advantage Plans Cut Total Cardio Procedures, But Regional Variations Remain
Call them bundled payments, medical homes, capitation or accountable care, new versions of managed care (think HMOs in the 1990s) are health care’s great cost control hope. Researchers publishing in the latest JAMA tested that idea by counting procedures in one of the biggest managed care programs of all: Medicare Advantage plans for seniors. One […]
Researchers Look At Why Poor Patients Prefer Hospital Care
Long wait times, jammed schedules, confusing insurance plans – there’s no shortage of obstacles between a patient and her doctor. That is, if she has a doctor. But a Health Affairs study published Monday says the barriers for poor people looking to get care are even higher, and it’s leading them away from preventive doctor […]
Video: New AMA President On Implementing The Health Law
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=313701-1 KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff interviewed Dr. Ardis Hoven, the new American Medical Association president, for an episode of the C-SPAN program “Newsmakers” that aired Sunday. The three talked about implementation of the health care law, a shortage of primary care practitioners, as well as the AMA’s decision to […]
AMA To Do ‘Whatever We Can’ To Help Carry Out Health Law
The American Medical Association will do “whatever we can in our power” to help implement the 2010 health care law, the group’s president said Tuesday. In an interview taped for C-SPAN’s Newsmakers, Ardis Dee Hoven, who became the AMA’s 168th president last month, said the White House has not approached her or the AMA directly […]
Federal Rule Extends Subsidies For College Students
Beginning in 2014, most people, including students, will have to have health insurance, whether or not they are claimed as a dependent on their parents’ tax returns. The federal health law says if they don’t, they or their parents will face penalties. While expansion of coverage under the health law has helped about 3 million young […]
Iowa, South Dakota Blues Skip Obamacare Exchange Next Year
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, with a long history of selling medical insurance directly to consumers, are expected to provide much of the subsidized coverage sold through the health law’s online marketplaces, or exchanges. “We expect Blue Cross Blue Shield plans will have a strong, reliable presence in the new exchanges,” Alissa Fox, a senior […]
Study: Emergency Rooms Take Toll On Older Patients
The majority of older patients who go to emergency departments in several nations around the world are likely to start out with complex conditions that deteriorate after their visits, according to a study published in the June 25 issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. Researchers from the Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine at the University […]
Q&A: What Hospital Readmissions Statistics Mean For Consumers
This story comes from our partner The federal government began fining hospitals based on how many Medicare patients were readmitted within 30 days of discharge in October. They track three specific conditions: heart failure, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. The goal is to improve the quality of care for seniors by preventing return trips to […]
Mississippi Dems: We Were ‘Bamboozled’ On Medicaid
With just two days to spare, and with plenty of political drama, Mississippi lawmakers approved a plan late Friday to renew Medicaid for another year. The joint federal-state program, which provides health insurance to some 700,000 poor Mississippians, was set to expire Sunday night. Democrats had pushed hard to expand coverage to 300,000 more people, […]
HHS Seeks To Address Religious Employers’ Concerns In Contraceptive Coverage Final Rule
Updated at 3:45 p.m. The Obama administration issued final rules Friday governing contraception coverage in the sweeping 2010 health care law that officials said more clearly respond to concerns from religious groups that object to this requirement. But it’s unclear if the new rules will shield the administration from charges that requiring employers who oppose contraception […]
What The High Court’s Affirmative Action Decision Might Mean To Med Schools
Wylie Lopez said he often has to prove himself. If classmates suggest that he got an internship placement because he’s Hispanic, the to-be second year medical school student said he has no problem showing them his grades, or MCAT scores. “It’s a fair argument,” said Lopez, who grew up in a rough, working-class neighborhood. “If […]
Those Left Out Of Medicaid Expansion Won’t Have To Buy Insurance
Low-income Americans who live in states that have decided not to expand Medicaid eligibility will not face penalties if they fail to buy insurance next year. That’s according to a final rule on exemptions to the health law’s individual mandate – the law’s controversial requirement that most Americans have health coverage or pay a penalty […]
Medicare Enhances Doctor-Rating Website
Medicare Thursday added new features to its Physician Compare website as it prepares to start including quality data on thousands of doctors. The federal health care law requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to publish performance data on doctors, including how patients rate them, how well the physicians’ medical interventions succeed and how […]
Test Driving The Obamacare Software
All the outreach in the world won’t count for much if the Obamacare ticket counter doesn’t work. Behind the campaign to educate the uninsured about the Affordable Care Act is the assumption that software to sell the plans will be ready and user-friendly by Oct. 1, when enrollment is supposed to start. That assumption is […]
Hospital Officials Complain To Senate Panel About Medicare Efforts On Observation Care
Overly aggressive practices of contractors charged with recovering inappropriate Medicare payments are causing headaches for hospitals and patients, hospital executives told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. Recovery Audit Contractors – or RACs – uncover and collect improper payments made to hospitals, physicians, clinics and other providers. In 2011 the audits resulted in the return of nearly a half […]
Grassley: Who Approved These Hospital CEO Bonuses?
Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime member of the Senate Finance Committee and frequent critic of nonprofit hospitals, wants to know whose idea it was to pay hospital CEOs annual bonuses surpassing a million dollars in some cases. “Is the board in control?” he asked in an interview. “Is the board making these decisions and how […]
Sebelius: Administration Is Negotiating Rates In Federal Exchanges
Hoping to get consumers the best prices, the Obama administration is negotiating with insurers looking to sell policies in online health insurance marketplaces this fall, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday. “Negotiations are underway and we will be negotiating rates across the country,” Sebelius said at a news briefing. HHS officials said last […]
Rate Shock? Let’s Talk About It Later, Says Colorado Insurance Commissioner
Colorado is among the states getting their first glimpse of how much health insurance will cost under Obamacare in 2014. Colorado’s insurance commissioner Jim Riesberg says he’s pleased with what he’s seen so far, but, “talking about rates at this point in time could lead to a lot problems in the future.” Riesberg says that’s because […]
Improper Use Of Prescription Drugs Costs $200 Billion A Year, Report Finds
The U.S. spends $200 billion each year — about 8 percent of the nation’s health care tab — on medical care stemming from improper or unnecessary use of prescription drugs, a new report out Wednesday says. Much of those costs result from unneeded hospitalizations or doctor visits, according to the study by the IMS Health’s […]
