Latest KFF Health News Stories
Chicago: New Children’s Memorial Hospital Will Rank Among The Most Expensive
From its modest beginning as an eight-bed cottage hospital founded in 1882, Chicago Memorial has evolved into a huge institution with nearly $2 billion in assets.
Nonprofit Children’s Hospitals Get Valuable Tax Exemptions But Many Provide Little Free Care
Hospital executives say spending on charity care is only one of many community benefits they provide as nonprofits.
Growing Size And Wealth Of Children’s Hospitals Fueling Questions About Spending
Many of the largest children’s hospitals have grown into big businesses with substantial assets and millionaire CEOs.
Talking Building Ambitions: The Big Money World Of Kids’ Care
Jackie Judd talks with Gil Gaul about his series, Building Ambitions, which looks at the big money world of children’s hospitals in the United States. Gaul discusses his series and says big costs, amassed wealth and children’s hospitals’ unique place in health care in America make it a growing power player in providing health care in America.
Companies Steering Workers To Lower Priced Medical Care
Businesses want employees to be more sensitive to the cost of medical care, but consumer advocates worry that decisions will be based on price, not quality.
Employers Increasingly Trimming Or Cutting Disability Benefits
The same pattern that has emerged in health insurance — employers’ shifting more costs onto workers’ shoulders — is occurring in disability coverage.
HHS Pushes Federal-State Partnerships For Insurance Exchanges
The federal government is worried that dozens of states may opt out of running these insurance marketplaces and leave that job for Washington.
The Essential Benefit Package Americans Need
The real impact of reform will ultimately be measured by the health of the nation — and by that measure, few decisions are more important than what is included in the essential benefit package. How this package takes shape will determine whether health reform delivers on its promise.
Clinical Nuance Essential To Essential Benefits Package
Current “one-size-fits-all” health plans, in which beneficiaries face the same out-of-pocket payment for every doctor visit, test and prescription drug, should be be replaced by plans based on the health benefit gained in the particular clinical circumstance. By using this nuance, health plans can offer more comprehensive and effective coverage while addressing the affordability of health insurance.
Defining ‘Typical’: A Critical Step In Determining The Health Law’s Essential Benefits Package
As implementation of the 2010 health law unfolds, one of the most important questions surrounds how he essential benefits package will be determined. The answer will have a significant impact on the cost of coverage, both inside and outside the law’s insurance exchanges.
Transcript: GOP Candidates Squabble Over Health Care During Tampa Debate
Monday night’s CNN/Tea Party Express debate among the Republican presidential candidates included discussion of Medicare, the health law, costs, the individual mandate and vaccines.
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.
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.
Q&A: Can I Request An Autopsy For A Loved One?
Michelle Andrews, KHN’s “Insuring Your Health” columnist, answers a question from a reader on what she can do after a doctor refused to authorize an autopsy for her mother-in-law.
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.
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.
