Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines – Oct. 2, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about states’ readiness to implement the health law. The New York Times: Administration Advises States To Expand Medicaid Or Risk Losing Federal Money The Obama administration is putting pressure on states to expand Medicaid, telling them they may lose federal money if they delay. […]
For Patients, What A Difference A Note Makes
Doctors are required by federal law to provide patients with a copy of their medical notes upon request, but few patients ask and doctors generally don’t make the process easy. When patients were offered online access, however, 90 percent read their doctors’ notes with some impressive results. A study published in the most recent issue […]
Today’s Headlines – Oct. 1, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the start of a Medicare pay-for-performance effort as well as the latest from the campaign trail. The Associated Press: Why It Matters: Issues At Stake In Election America’s health care system is unsustainable. It’s not one problem, but three: cost, quality and coverage. […]
Medicare’s Pay For Performance Effort Begins, Targeting Quality and Readmissions
Monday is the start of the federal fiscal year, and with it begins Medicare’s biggest effort yet at paying for performance. Starting Oct. 1, Medicare is withholding 1 percent of its regular hospital reimbursements in the new Value-Based Purchasing Program, which was created by the 2010 health care law. Over the course of the year, […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 28, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about political and policy-oriented health care developments. The Washington Post: Medicare Working To Boost Obama In Swing States, Poll Finds Voters in three critical swing states broadly oppose the far-reaching changes to Medicare -associated with the Republican presidential ticket and, by big margins, prefer […]
Study: States, Feds Recover Billions In Medicaid Drug Fraud Settlements
Eager for revenues, states are settling more cases than ever — and at record amounts — with drug makers accused of defrauding Medicaid programs, according to a new analysis from the consumer group Public Citizen. In just the first half of 2012, the federal government and states have recovered $6.6 billion, according to the report. Overcharging health […]
Not Your Typical Presidential Debate Forum For Obama, Romney
There’s nothing unusual about the way The New England Journal of Medicine displays the “Perspective” section this week: In dueling columns, under an original article on a “novel androgen-receptor blocker” for prostate cancer. But the authors of two of the perspectives are far from typical: B. Obama and M. Romney. The introduction to both is basic: […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 27, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how the health law and Medicare are buzz words in public opinion polls and on the campaign trail. Los Angeles Times: Romney Cites His Healthcare Law As Proof Of His Compassion Mitt Romney, while campaigning in Ohio on Wednesday, highlighted the healthcare law […]
Md. Blues Chief Blasts Plan To Shift Hospital Costs To Insurers
Negotiations to avert a breakdown in Maryland’s unique system of regulating hospital prices have deteriorated into a stalemate between the state’s largest insurer and the Maryland Hospital Association. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield CEO Chet Burrell, speaking out for the first time about the talks, blames hospitals for their proposal to shift hundreds of millions in costs to CareFirst and other private insurers in an attempt […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 26, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organiations, including reports about a round of new polls sizing up the status of the presidential campaign as well as one from The Associated Press measuring public opinion about the implementation of the health law. The New York Times: Test For Obama As Deficit Stays Over $1 […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 25, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new study that details accelerating health care spending. Los Angeles Times: Presidential Debate Questions Sync Up With Voter Concerns A new Pew Research Center polling analysis, released Monday, finds that the economy is voters’ dominant concern in this fall’s presidential election. An […]
Higher Prices By Hospitals, Other Providers, Drove 2011 Spending Increases, Study Finds
Spending on medical care for Americans with job-based insurance rose 4.6 percent last year, driven mainly by higher prices charged by hospitals and other medical providers, a report out today says. The growth came despite a sluggish economy which some economists thought would translate into more modest spending growth. Still, last year’s per enrollee increase ranks […]
Study Links Longer Office Hours, Lower Health Care Costs
After primary care doctors close their doors on weekends and evenings, patients turn to urgent care facilities, pharmacy ‘minute clinics’, and emergency rooms to get the care they need. In doing so, they may also be contributing to the nation’s skyrocketing health system costs. “When a patient shows up in the emergency room, the assumption is […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 24, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest health politics and policy news. The New York Times: Obama And Romney Offer A Possible Preview Of Their First Debate Mr. Romney said he would consider means-testing for Social Security benefits for future retirees, and he put some distance between his […]
NYC Study: Harlem Has Most ER ‘Super Users;’ Upper East Side, Fewest
About 20 percent of New York City residents visit hospital emergency rooms annually — and in some neighborhoods, the rate is twice that, according to a new report. The study by the United Hospital Fund found dramatic variations in ER use across the city, and it’s one of the first to analyze which people end […]
Romney Adviser’s Firm Says Most States Will Expand Medicaid — If Obama Is Re-Elected
The consulting firm headed by the man planning Mitt Romney’s White House transition –should there be one — says most states eventually will expand Medicaid under the health law, if President Barack Obama is re-elected. A report completed this week by Leavitt Partners, led by Romney adviser and former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, noted the […]
Today’s Headlines – Sep. 21, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about recent polling results indicating that, despite GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s efforts to frame the Medicare debate, President Barack Obama still has the advantage on this issue. The Wall Street Journal: Headwinds For Romney In Latest Poll Results The three state surveys come […]
Bipartisan Report Focuses On Issues Driving Up Health Care Costs
Among the reasons behind the nation’s seemingly inexorable rise in medical spending are the practice of rewarding doctors and hospitals for volume rather than efficiency of care and the tax break given to consumers for their job-based health insurance, according to a report out Thursday from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington. […]
Today’s Headlines — Sept. 20, 2012
NPR’s The Two-Way: Census: In 2011, Number Of Poor Americans Increased Young Americans are one of the first to feel the effects of the Affordable Care Act. … According to the Census, once young Americans aged 19 to 25 could be added to their parents’ plans, there was a 3.5 percent increase in the number […]
Insurance Coverage Improves In 20 States, Census Shows
TABLE.khntable { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 280px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; PADDING-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px; display: block; margin-left: 14px;float: right; } .khntable-title { BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #F5F5F5; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px; BORDER-TOP: […]
