Latest KFF Health News Stories
Concern Is Growing That The Elderly Get Too Many Medical Tests
Critics say there is little evidence of benefit — and considerable risk — from common screening tests for colon, breast and prostate cancer, particularly in people older than 70, especially those with other serious health problems.
VA Experience Shows Patient ‘Rebound’ Hard To Counter
The Veterans Health Administration has long used approaches Medicare is pushing on all hospitals to cut unnecessary readmissions. But new data show VA hospital patients are just as likely to end up back in a hospital bed.
Health Insurers Deny Coverage To Many Who Apply For Individual Policies
Data from a federal website show that denial rates routinely exceed 20 percent and often are much higher.
A new study investigates why American physicians are high earners.
Sweating The Details: Health Reform Supporters Fret Over HHS Rules
Some consumer and patient advocates worry that the administration is bending too much toward insurers and employers when it issues new health regulations.
Back-Up Plans For The Individual Mandate?
With this key health law provision’s constitutionality in question, Kaiser Health News asked six experts what alternative policy approaches might be used in its place.
Nation’s Jails Struggle With Mentally Ill Prisoners
More Americans receive mental health treatment in prisons and jails than in hospitals or treatment centers, yet the criminal justice system was never built to handle people with mental illnesses. A judge in Miami-Dade County is trying to prevent those with mental illnesses who have committed minor crimes from ending up in jail.
Reaching Out To Legal Immigrants Who Need Health Care
For the first time the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to help eligible legal immigrants sign up for programs like Medicaid, sometimes by going to health fairs in immigrant neighborhoods.
Texas Nursing Homes Brace for Higher Costs, Sicker Patients
Nursing homes were spared the draconian cuts proposed by lawmakers at the beginning of the 2011 legislative session. Still, despite growing caseloads and rising medical costs, they move forward with less state and federal support.
Changes To Medigap Plans Meet Resistance
Health law proposed revisions to help save Medicare money but group of insurance experts studying the issue is raising concerns.
Seeking To Save Money, Calif. Ending Adult Day Health Care Program
The state has said its decision to eliminate adult day health care services as a Medi-Cal benefit — essentially shuttering ADHC centers and moving beneficiaries into managed care — is a cost-saving move. But there are questions about how much money it actually will save.
Insurers See Growing Risks As Well As Revenues In Medicaid Managed Care
At least 20 states are expanding their Medicaid managed-care programs in an effort to contain health spending and prepare for a huge expansion of the program beginning in 2014.
Massachusetts Unions Shape Compromise For State’s Municipal Health Insurance Law
A coaltion of Massachusetts public employee unions recognized that municipal health care costs were a problem and engaged with other stakeholders in the effort to develop a solution. In the end, nobody got they wanted and that’s what a genuine compromise looks like.
These local jurisdictions, in the face of serious budget constraints, have repeatedly pushed for legal relief that would enable them to decrease the burden of public employees’ and retirees’ health benefit costs. Meanwhile, public employee unions have battled to protect what they believe their members have earned through their collective bargaining rights. In this state-policy drama, key players managed to come to a compromise that neither side loves, but both view as a solution.
Reasonable Reform Trumps In Massachusetts
Earlier this summer, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a new law reforming the way that cities and towns design health insurance plans for their employees. As local governments across the country continue to confront the harsh political and fiscal issues of spiraling employee and retiree health costs, the story of how this law came to be is worth examining.
How Would Perry Reform Health Care If President?
Republican presidential candidates are often careful to not reveal during primaries how they would change health care in America, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is no exception. But examining Perry’s legislative record gives a glimpse into just what he’d change if elected.
Portman May Be Pivotal to ‘Super Committee’ Success
Even as skeptics dismiss the “super committee” as a prescription for more gridlock, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is seen by many seasoned observers as a key figure in helping bridge the partisan divide and facilitate the chance for a deal.
Danforth On Super Committee’s Task: ‘The Problem Is The Cost Of Health Care’
The Republican former senator talks with KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey about the politics of deficit-cutting commissions and what it will take to tackle the ballooning federal deficit.
SSI Program For ADHD, Other Disabled Kids Under Scrutiny
The SSI program for low-income disabled children is rapidly expanding, with the biggest increase among kids with mental, behavioral and learning disorders, including ADHD, speech delays, autism, and bipolar disorder, sparking criticism in Congress.
