Latest KFF Health News Stories
Insurance Agents Key To California Success Enrolling Asian-Americans
While Latino enrollment has lagged in California’s insurance marketplace, Asians have signed up in numbers outstripping their representation in the pool of eligible people. According to new Covered California data, the overwhelming majority of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese enrollees are buying plans through certified insurance agents, as opposed to community groups or the Covered California website. […]
AHIP President Calls For New Level Of Insurance Under Health Law
http://static.c-span.org/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.1395167746.swf?pid=318396-1 A new tier of coverage should be added to the health law’s online marketplaces, or exchanges, that would be less comprehensive than what plans are now required to offer, the head of the health insurance industry’s trade group said Sunday. “I would create a lower tier, so that people could gradually get into the program, […]
Cholesterol Guidelines Could Mean Statins For Half Of Adults Over 40
This story was produced in collaboration with When sweeping new advice on preventing heart attacks and strokes came out last November, it wasn’t clear how many more Americans should be taking daily statin pills to lower their risk. A new analysis provides an answer: a whole lot. Nearly 13 million more, to be precise. If the […]
Mass. To Drop Contractor Behind Flawed Health Insurance Website
Massachusetts is negotiating an end to its contract with CGI, the Canadian vendor that built the state’s flawed health insurance website while scrambling to fix it. The site was supposed to be up last October, offering one-stop health insurance shopping for anyone in Massachusetts. But six months later, only a few functions work but have […]
What You Need To Know As Health Care Deadline Looms
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey was on NPR’s Tell Me More program Tuesday talking about the upcoming deadline for many Americans to buy health insurance or face a fine. Listen below:
Local Control Key To Colorado Exchange’s (Moderate) Success
Being an early adopter can be rewarding. Remember how amazing it was to have the first iPhone? But then, sometimes early adopters pay a price, like that early version of the Apple map tool that led to some wrong turns. Colorado is one of 14 states going through their own version of this with the […]
Can Congress Put An End To Annual Medicare Payment Ritual?
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Congress is still searching for money to avoid a 24 percent cut in pay for doctors who treat Medicare patients. But seniors are already paying their share of the cost in premiums, as if the pay cut — scheduled to kick in on April 1 — […]
Sebelius Pushes Lagging Enrollment In Ohio
CLEVELAND – At a health center here Friday, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Ohio is off to a “decent start” on health insurance enrollment. With two weeks left before open enrollment ends under the Affordable Care Act, 79,000 Ohioans have selected a plan on the federally run insurance exchange. “We’ve got some […]
HHS Says Insurers’ Coverage For Same-Sex Spouses Must Match Other Married Couples
Insurers can’t offer health coverage to a spouse in a traditional marriage if they don’t also make the same coverage available to spouses in same-sex marriages, the federal government announced Friday. The change means that same-sex married couples who have been unable to buy family policies will be able to do so. The guidance, presented in an FAQ […]
Federal High Risk Pools Extended For A Month
Participants in the federal high-risk pool created in the health law will have another month to find coverage, the Obama administration announced Friday. In a notice posted on the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan website, officials announced that program enrollees who have not yet purchased coverage through the health law’s online marketplaces, or exchanges, could keep […]
California Marketplace Still Lags in Signing Up Latinos and Young Adults
With just a few weeks remaining before the March 31 enrollment deadline, California has signed up more than 923,000 people in its new insurance marketplace—more than a fifth of the national tally, officials announced Wednesday. But the state’s success story continues to be marred by slow progress in reaching Latinos and young people in general, […]
Insurers May Get Cost Break Thanks To Rocky ACA Rollout
The Obama administration keeps changing the rules on implementing the Affordable Care Act. Insurance companies keep complaining. But they’re unlikely to grouse about the latest adjustment. On Tuesday the Department of Health and Human Services signaled its intention to temporarily give insurers a break on the portion of premiums they must spend on medical care […]
Rep. Ryan Quizzes Sebelius On Increased Savings Estimate From IPAB
The panel hasn’t had a meeting and no one’s even been nominated for it yet, but the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request says the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as IPAB, could save the government triple what officials estimated last year. On Wednesday, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., asked Department of Health and […]
Injured Who Lived Near Closed Trauma Centers More Likely To Die
Injured patients who had to travel an average 13 minutes longer to reach a hospital trauma center because a facility nearer to home had closed were more likely to die of their injuries in the hospital, according to a new California study. The report found their risk of dying was 21 percent higher than that […]
Employers See Negligible Increase In Workers Participating In Job-Based Coverage
Employers saw only a tiny increase in enrollment in their health insurance plans this year, even as key provisions of the health law — including a requirement that nearly all Americans carry coverage or face a fine — went into effect, a survey by benefit firm Mercer finds. Additionally, the percentage of workers eligible for job-based coverage rose only minimally, […]
Skipping Health Insurance Could Cost A Lot More Than $95
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. 2014 is the first year most Americans will have to either have health insurance or face a tax penalty. But most people who are aware of the penalty think it’s pretty small, at least for this first year. And that could turn into an expensive mistake. “I’d […]
Should Healthier Patients Be Asked To Wait To Use Costly Hepatitis C Drugs?
New treatments for hepatitis C that cost at least $66,000 to $84,000 may work better than older drugs, but their cost undermines their value to the health system, a panel of experts said during a daylong forum in San Francisco. “The price makes it very hard for the health care system,” said Steve Pearson, who […]
Missouri Pulls Out Stops, But Lags Better-Funded Illinois Effort
Free food and music are notorious for attracting young people; at least that’s the hope of Missouri insurance enrollment counselors. Before the March 31 deadline under the Affordable Care Act, groups are beefing up their campaigns to bring last-minute customers to the federal health insurance marketplace—especially young people. Cover Missouri — a coalition of 400 […]
Medicare Officials Back Away From Changes To Prescription Drug Plan
Facing heavy bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill as well as from patient groups, businesses, insurers and others, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday it did not plan to move ahead “at this time” with several proposed changes to the Medicare prescription drug program. The draft regulation, which had been released in January, would have wide-ranging […]
Business Groups Split On Medicaid Expansion
With several states weighing whether to expand Medicaid under the federal health law, supporters are looking to powerful business groups to help sway skeptical state legislators. But those groups are split on the issue — just like the public at large. Nationally, the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents mostly small employers, remains opposed to the […]
