Latest KFF Health News Stories
Grassley Calls For Senate Consideration Of Tavenner’s Nomination
President Barack Obama Thursday once again nominated Marilyn Tavenner to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and a key GOP senator said the chamber should consider the nomination. “The Senate should give Ms. Tavenner every opportunity to show she is a worthy choice to lead the agency responsible for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, […]
Despite Possible Ease In Regulations, Rural Hospitals Face Challenges
Rural health care administrators got some good news this week. The Obama administration Monday proposed to ease some Medicare regulations – a change that could save rural hospitals much-needed money by allowing for more flexible staffing requirements. But for about 450 health care professionals who attended this week’s National Rural Health Association Policy Institute in […]
HHS Delays Basic Health Plan Option Until 2015
The Obama administration has delayed by one year the rollout of a health program aimed at low to moderate-income people who won’t qualify for the expanded Medicaid program under the federal health law. Under the so-called Basic Health Program, some states had planned to offer government insurance to people who don’t qualify for Medicaid, but […]
Study: Premium Increases To Be Offset By Subsidies, Better Coverage
How the federal health law will affect premiums is among the most asked – and most controversial – questions in the final months before new rules kick in requiring most Americans to carry coverage. A white paper out Wednesday considers how the law will affect premiums for people who buy their own coverage because they […]
Aggressive Care Still The Norm For Dying Seniors
Although federal data show that fewer Medicare beneficiaries are dying in hospitals, new research suggests that doesn’t mean they’re getting less aggressive care in their final days. Researchers at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and others reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday that even as deaths in […]
Long-Term Care Protection May Be Toothless
There aren’t many investments people make to protect themselves against something that may happen 20 or 30 years down the road. Yet that’s exactly what long-term care insurance purchasers do. But a provision in those policies that people rely on to help ensure their coverage will meet their needs decades hence may do nothing of […]
Health Care Spending In America, In Two Graphs
This story comes from our partner . Spending on health care has, of course, been rising in the U.S. for decades. Health care now accounts for 18 cents of every dollar Americans spend, up from 7 cents in 1970. But where, exactly, is all that money going? And, for that matter, where is the money coming […]
Feds Help States Qualify For More Medicaid Dollars
The Obama administration on Friday released guidance to states on how they can increase their Medicaid funding by eliminating copays for certain preventive services, including immunizations. The provision of the Affordable Care Act was slated to take effect Jan. 1. States that implement the changes can apply for the funding retroactive to that date. The specified preventive services […]
State Action Needed To Guarantee Health Law Protections, Says Report
Lawmakers in most states better get busy if they want authority to enforce key provisions of the federal health law that go into effect next year. That’s the takeaway message from a report by the Commonwealth Fund showing that only 11 states and the District of Columbia have passed rules needed to implement the law. […]
If you could make one change to Medicare, what would it be? Ask three former directors of the program and you’ll get plenty of ideas. Bruce Vladeck, who was head of what was then known as the Health Care Financing Administration, or HCFA, for former President Bill Clinton, wants more market-based competition and less pricing […]
Some Families Will Be Ineligible For Insurance Subsidies Under Final Rule
Some families with costly job-based health coverage may be ineligible for federal subsidies to help them buy less expensive coverage through new online insurance markets, under final rules released Wednesday by the IRS. The two rules, published by the Treasury Department here and here, uphold earlier proposals outlining what is considered affordable, employer-sponsored coverage. Under the federal health law, low […]
For Medicare Innovations – Think Locally
Reforming Medicare – from changing the way doctors are paid to streamlining patient care – could benefit from a grassroots approach, according to experts and physicians at a policy summit held by National Journal Live in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. “We need to focus more on responding to and joining local initiatives,” said Len Nichols, director […]
Patient Loads Often At Unsafe Levels, Hospitalist Survey Finds
Nearly forty percent of hospital-based general practitioners who are responsible for overseeing patients’ care say they juggle unsafe patient workloads at least once a week, according to a study published Monday as a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. In the study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University invited nearly 900 attending physicians, known as hospitalists, to […]
Nursing Moms Get Free Breast Pumps From Health Law
This story comes from our partner . Health insurance plans now have to cover the full cost of breast pumps for nursing mothers. This is the result of a provision in the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), and the new rule took effect for many people at the start of this year. It’s led to a […]
Americans Want Deficit Addressed Without Medicare Cuts, Poll Finds
Most Americans want quick action to reduce the deficit, but almost six in 10 oppose cutting Medicare spending to achieve that goal, according to a new poll released today. Lawmakers should examine other alternatives, including requiring drug makers to give the government “a better deal” on medications for low-income seniors (85 percent) and making higher-income […]
Report: States Making It Easier To Apply For Medicaid
Despite the reluctance of some Republican governors to expand Medicaid next year under the 2010 health law, most governors are making it easier for people to apply for coverage in the state-federal program for the poor, according to a study released today. Residents of 37 states — four more than the year before — can now apply […]
Report: CMS Community Initiatives Could Reduce Health Costs
A pilot program introduced by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to boost quality of care for seniors by developing community approaches to health problems could play a key role in bringing down costs, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Quality Improvement Organizations, or QIOs, are […]
AMA Offers $10 Million To Fund Med School Innovations
Memo to medical schools: If you have new ideas on how to train doctors, the American Medical Association may have some cash for you. The AMA says it will provide $10 million over the next five years to fund eight to 12 “bold, innovative projects.” “Rapid changes in health care require a transformation in the […]
Mental Health Gun Laws Unlikely To Reduce Shootings
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. States aren’t likely to prevent many shootings by requiring mental health professionals to report potentially violent patients, psychiatrists and psychologists say. The approach is part of a gun control law passed in New York yesterday in response to the Newtown, Conn., shooting a month ago. But it’s unlikely to […]
Today’s Headlines – Jan. 16, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports examining how mental health issues play a role in efforts to curb gun violence and expand gun control efforts. The New York Times: For ‘Party Of Business,’ Allegiances Are Shifting Big business is so fearful of economic peril if Congress does not allow the […]
