Latest KFF Health News Stories
Super Committee Health Goals Need Sound Policy
If the super committee is to reach its goal of finding an estimated $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade, this panel will have to think big and produce recommendations with real substance — especially in regard to the health care component.
Health policy analysts are at risk of neglecting the issue that will more profoundly influence health policy than all of those now absorbing their attention: whether tax increases form a major part of any program to curb future federal budget deficits.
Different Takes: Advice For The Super Committee
KHN asked Henry J. Aaron of The Brookings Institution, Nina Owcharenko from The Heritage Foundation and Third Way’s David Kendall what they view as the most substantive issue or challenge facing the super committee and what advice they might offer to tackle it. Read their perspectives.
Health Care: Super Power For The Super Committee
Health care costs are typically kryptonite in budget talks, but this time they are also the common enemy to both Democrats and Republicans. But both will have to give in order to reach a successful deal.
Transcript: What Is The Super Committee Doing? Advocates Elbow Lawmakers On Cuts
Jackie Judd talks with KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey about the latest in talks around the “super committee’s” efforts to cut the deficit. Advocates and lawmakers are busy whispering what health programs should be shielded from cuts and which should be on the chopping block.
Food-Safety Issues Abound Near U.S. Capitol
While consumers think they can find refuge in markets selling food grown locally, an investigation reveals seams in the federal government’s efforts to keep the country’s food supply safe.
Medicare Plans See Dollars In The Stars
Star ratings are bleeding into bottom lines, board rooms and corporate strategy as Medicare Advantage plans chase top scores.
Offering Rehab Services Soon After Diagnosis Proves Beneficial
National Naval Hospital in Bethesda helped pioneer this model of treatment for breast cancer patients and found it saved money and helped the women fully recover their range of motion.
Cancer Patients Could Benefit From Greater Use Of Rehabilitation
Oncologists often overlook therapies that can ease the debilitating effects of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy and insurance plans frequently limit coverage.
Pharmacists Inject New Vigor Into Flu Shot Market
Majority of Americans still get their vaccinations from a doctor but more than 18 percent were immunized at a supermarket or drugstore last year.
Florida Readies Its Own Health Insurance Exchange
But it’s unlike the online marketplace required by the federal health law and draws only tepid support from health plans and insurance agents.
Advisory Panel Says Essential Health Benefits Package Must Be Affordable
The Department of Health and Human Services now must decide what benefits should be required in policies sold through insurance exchanges beginning in 2014.
Disparities Cloud Health Improvements In Past Decade, Report Finds
Federal officials note that minorities and low-income Americans continue to have less access to health care even as the country makes improvements in life expectancy and lowering death rates related to several conditions.
Administration Scales Back Expansion Of Community Health Centers
Health centers fear they won’t be able to expand fast enough to meet the growing demand from the current uninsured and the influx of people to Medicaid in 2014.
The prospects for this voluntary long-term care insurance program appear increasingly complicated.
Transcript: Forecasting What ‘Essential Benefits’ Recommendations Influential Panel Will Make
Jackie Judd talks with KHN’s Julie Appleby about recommendations an Institute of Medicine panel will make to help the Department of Health and Human Services determine just what “essential benefits” insurers will have to cover in health law-mandated marketplaces.
Changes Take Seniors By Surprise
Nearly two-thirds of seniors don’t know that the Medicare enrollment period is early this year, a survey shows, and that could cost them.
HCA May Face Big Revenue Hit If Feds Approve Texas Medicaid Plan
Hospital Corporation of America receives hundreds of millions of dollars in supplemental Medicaid money to help cover the poor and uninsured, but Texas officials suggest HCA may be benefiting the most.
In New Term, Supreme Court To Tackle Divisive Issues
The Supreme Court starts its new term Monday. Among the issues slated to be decided are if doctors, hospitals and patients can challenge state-enacted reductions in Medicaid payments.
Vermont Edges Toward Single Payer Health Care
The new system will move many state residents into a publicly financed insurance program and pay hospitals and doctors a set fee to care for patients.
