Latest KFF Health News Stories
Transcript: Health On The Hill – Obama’s Budget Proposal, Continuing Negotiations On Health Reform
President Obama’s budget request for fiscal 2011 would give states an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding to help cover rising program costs.
Florida Health Insurance ‘Safety-Net’ Plans Falling Short
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, a candidate for U.S. Senate who is critical of President Obama’s ideas on health reform, says the nation should instead adapt a plan he helped to enact: Florida Health Choices.
High-Ranking House Democrat Predicts Health Bill Approval This Year
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller says Congress will pass health overhaul legislation this year even though Democratic leaders are increasingly focusing on the economy and jobs.
Obama On Health Care: What A Difference A Year Makes
In his first State of the Union speech, President Obama called on Congress to get health reform “done.” While he acknowledged obstacles, his call for health reform was just as impassioned as his first address to a joint session of Congress 11 months ago.
Kansas Health And Unemployment Programs Battered By Recession
Kansas is trying to cope with surging applications for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program with a staff depleted by budget cuts.
GOP Struggles For Consensus On Health Care
Republicans have some ideas for how their stalled health overhaul can get started again: Find some bipartisanship. The problem is that most Republicans don’t agree on many of the proposals fellow party members are shopping around Capitol Hill. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Transcript: Health On The Hill – Debating Next Steps For Health Reform
Congressional Democrats continue to debate their next step on health care overhaul legislation, with some urging that Congress move quickly on a scaled-back approach.
Many Still Hope For Insurance Reform
Some lawmakers are considering a scaled-back health bill in place of the comprehensive legislation now stalled in Congress. But there’s debate about whether popular insurance reforms, such as requiring insurers to accept applicants with health problems, can be successful without an unpopular individual insurance mandate.
Health Care Overhaul May Be Mortally Wounded
A political change of temperature has lawmakers scrambling for a new strategy on a health overhaul. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
As Records Go Digital, Cultures Clash
A group of Broward County doctors looking to switch to electronic medical records say the result has been a massive headache: surprise charges, inadequate training and even blocked access to patient files.
Audio: Health On The Hill – January 21, 2010
The fate of congressional health overhaul legislation is uncertain after Republican Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts’ special election on Monday and Democrats’ loss of a filibuster-proof majority.
How The Budget Reconciliation Process Works
Democrats, who no longer have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, are weighing the use of a budget rule called reconciliation to pass at least part of the long-debated health overhaul package with a simple majority.
Why Public Support For Health Care Faltered
The Democrats’ health overhaul legislation is in trouble for many reasons, including key policy decisions that led many Americans to wonder whether they would wind up worse off.
Business Is Booming For Big Drug Negotiators
If your health insurance covers prescriptions, you are probably a customer of a pharmacy benefit management company. These third-party administrators for prescription drug programs make up one of the few industries growing during this recession, and are now poised for even more growth, as baby boomers age and Congress prepares to insure more Americans.
Fewer Employers Satisfied With Their Health Insurers, Survey Says
A majority said they would increase employees’ cost-sharing responsibilities as part of their cost-control strategy.
Transcript: Health On The Hill – What The Massachusetts Senate Race Could Mean For Health Reform
The outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race could play a pivotal role in efforts by President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass a health care overhaul bill this year.
Opponents Threaten Constitutional Challenge To Individual Mandate
A major component of the Congressional health bills is a requirement that nearly everyone buy health insurance. But conservatives who oppose health reform have threatened a challenge on constitutional grounds.
The Lemacks got permission for out-of-network care for their son Joshua’s heart defect, but the Virginia family still ended up drowning in debt.
Obama, Democrats Compromise On ‘Cadillac’ Tax, Eager To Move Past Health Bill
President Obama was upbeat about negotiations on health legislation as he addressed the Democratic Caucus last night. With him are House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
Feds Vs. States: Who Should Run Proposed Health Insurance Marketplaces?
The final decision on who should supervise health exchanges is critical to health plan choices available to consumers, the cost of the premiums and the clout regulators may have.
