Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 19, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest news on the ongoing “fiscal cliff” discourse. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Taxes, Benefit Programs Key Flashpoints In ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Negotiations There are numerous hurdles, big and small, in front of President Barack Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill as they seek a budget […]
Florida Gov. Rick Scott Ready To Negotiate State Exchange
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Friday that he’s open to building a state-based health insurance exchange under the health care law — but only if he can find a way to pay for it that doesn’t increase health costs or state taxes. Scott, the former hospital chain CEO who has been one of the most […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 16, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports detailing the Obama administration’s deadline extention — now until Dec. 14 — for states to decide how they want to proceed with the health law’s insurance exchanges. The New York Times: Senate ‘Gang Of 8’ Says this Isn’t Its Moment In Deficit Talks After […]
Mississippi Builds Exchange Despite Objections Of Governor, Tea Party
The Mississippi Insurance Department officially told the federal government that it will run its own health insurance exchange and plans to file the exchange blueprint Friday. If the state had not set up an insurance exchange, which is an online marketplace for comparison shopping for health insurance called for by the health overhaul law, the […]
Survey: Most U.S. Primary Care Docs Using EMRs
U.S. doctors are no longer the laggards when it comes to using health information technology in their practices. But they are still more weighed down by paperwork and health care costs than many of their Western counterparts. A survey of nearly 8,500 primary care doctors in ten of the world’s wealthiest countries took a new look […]
All The Newly Single (Uninsured) Ladies
Divorce is usually a painful exercise in splitting up assets. But for many women, it also means losing health insurance protection. A study released this week from the University of Michigan reveals that roughly 115,000 American women lose their private health insurance annually after a divorce and about half of them do not get replacement coverage. […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 15, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest details on states’ decisions about pursuing health exchanges as well as other political and policy developments. The Wall Street Journal: At President’s Meeting With Executives, Some Push, Pull And Give President Barack Obama’s meeting with top chief executives Wednesday included a frank exchange […]
Providers File The Bulk Of Medicare Appeals
Health care providers who appealed to Medicare judges won more often than patients did, according to a report by the inspector general at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hospitals, physicians, medical equipment suppliers and other providers also filed 85 percent of the cases decided by the administrative law judges in fiscal […]
Hospitals, Home Health Care Services Lobby Against Cuts In Deficit Deal
As lawmakers and President Barack Obama discuss possible changes to federal entitlement programs as part of a larger deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, expect provider groups to make their case loud and clear: Don’t cut us. The American Hospital Association is circulating a list of alternatives that are well-known and included in other deficit-reduction […]
Progressive Group Recommends $385 Billion In Health Cuts
Hospitals, drug companies, nursing homes and health plans would lose billions in Medicare funding over the next decade under a budget deficit cutting plan recommended by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank which has close ties to President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. But officials at the center say their […]
Employer Health Costs Rise 4 Percent, Lowest Increase Since 1997
Furnishing new evidence of slower growth in health costs, consulting firm Mercer said Wednesday that employers spent 4.1 percent more on health benefits this year than in 2011. It was the smallest increase in 15 years. One reason, but probably not the only one: Employers shifted costs to workers through higher deductibles. Nearly 60 percent of very large employers (more than 20,000 workers) […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 14, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details about how lines are being drawn regarding the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations. The New York Times: Obama Vows Firm Stance On Deficit-Reduction Plan President Obama reassured leaders of labor and progressive groups on Tuesday that he will not yield to Congressional Republicans and extend Bush-era […]
Health Law Was A Wash In The Election, Poll Finds
After two years of noise and stridency on the 2010 health care law, the Affordable Care Act ended up being a wash in the presidential election, a new poll finds. Both President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney ended up getting equal support among voters who said the law was a “major factor” in their vote for president, […]
U.S. Lowering Rate Of Premature Births, But Slowly
The United States is slowly reducing its rate of premature births, bringing the rate to 11.7 percent in 2011, but the figure is still higher than public health advocates believe it should be. The updated figures come from The March of Dimes, a non-profit group that works to improve the health of mothers and babies, […]
FEMA Hurricane Sandy Workers Win Health Benefits
That didn’t take long. Just one week after an online petition made news by calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give health benefits to part-time disaster workers responding to Hurricane Sandy, the United States government changed its policy. The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal worker benefits, granted “certain employees who work on […]
Hospital Shift Changes A Dangerous Time For Patients
Before physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital finish their 13-hour shifts in the surgical intensive care unit, they hand off their patients to the crew taking over. The outgoing and incoming doctors carefully exchange important information about each patient to ensure that they are properly cared for through the next shift. Cheryl Ryan, a clinical nurse […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 13, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports previewing this week’s actions regarding negotiations about the fiscal cliff. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Most Of America Would Be Hit By Tax Increases And Spending Cuts From ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Everyone who pays income tax — and some who don’t —will feel it. So will […]
Health System Touted By Obama Is Not Yet Endorsing Medicaid Expansion
Intermountain Healthcare, the Salt Lake City-based hospital system praised by President Barack Obama as being a model for low-cost, high quality care, says it is not convinced Utah should expand Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul. The system wants those who would gain Medicaid coverage from the law to have the choice to obtain private insurance, which generally […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 9, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about effort to cut a deal on taxes and entitlements to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” The New York Times: With Obama Re-Elected, States Scramble Over Health Law After nearly three years of legal and political threats that kept President Obama’s health care law in […]
Bloggers Parse What Happens Next On Health Law
The health policy world has moved on from what happens IF the health law survives to what happens NEXT now that its future appears secure. Bloggers are focusing on how the law will be implemented, what the role of states may be, how patient care will be affected and how the work left to be done […]
