Latest KFF Health News Stories
Remaking Medicare: Saving Money Or Shifting Costs?
Lawmakers disagree, fundamentally, on how to save costs in the Medicare program and if recent proposals — like the GOP one passed recently in the House — will save money or just shift costs to Medicare patients.
Health Insurers Opening Their Own Clinics To Trim Costs
Some private plans serving people in Medicare and Medicaid have set up health care centers to help make sure patients get needed treatments and avoid hospitalizations.
Q&A: My Daughter With A Pre-Existing Condition Lost Her Insurance, What Can We Do?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a mother whose daughter lost her insurance and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. What are her options to get coverage?
Graduates Without Health Coverage Should Consider Their Parents’ Plan
The health law guarantees that until the age of 26, children can stay on a family plan. There are exceptions, however, including when the young adult is offered insurance at work – even if that insurance is not as good as Mom and Dad’s.
Federal Efforts Build Momentum To Address Health Inequities — Guest Opinion
During the month of April — Minority Health Month — the Obama administration took significant steps to build momentum for efforts to eliminate racial and ethnic health inequities. But with this momentum the stakes have become higher than ever, just as fiscal and political pressures mount that could undermine progress.
Health On The Hill Transcript – Congress Returns To Work On Deficit Proposals And Health Programs
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s David Nather talk with Jackie Judd about lawmakers’ return to work this week on lowering the federal deficit and how health programs could be affected.
Health On The Hill – Congress Returns To Work On Deficit Proposals And Health Programs
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s David Nather talk with Jackie Judd about Congress’ return to Washington to work on proposals to lower the deficit. How to, and if, Medicare and Medicaid are reformed in the process are part of the mix of policy and politics lawmakers are considering in their work.
Health On The Hill Transcript: GOP Medicare Plan Spurs Anger, Splits Public During Recess
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Jackie Judd report on a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll that reveals a split among the public on the GOP plan to cut Medicare cost growth.
Health On The Hill – GOP Medicare Plan Spurs Anger, Splits Public During Recess
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about varied reaction by Americans and lawmakers to the GOP plan to reduce the deficit by making changes to Medicare. A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows most seniors oppose some GOP-proposed changes at a greater rate than the general public, which views it more favorably.
Insurers Clash With Health Providers As States Expand Medicaid Managed Care
Many states are trying to restrain Medicaid spending by putting more people into managed care plans, but with billions of dollars at stake, insurers and health providers are lobbying hard for their interests.
Some Church Groups Form Sharing Ministries To Cover Members’ Medical Costs
The groups are financed through a monthly fee, and those revenues are divvied up and sent to members when they have health care expenses.
Under Health Law, Colonoscopies Are Free – But It Doesn’t Always Work That Way
The billing can get complicated if doctors find a polyp during a screening: Some insurers
Finding A Path Through The Health Insurance Market ‘Gobbledygook’
In her search for a health plan, Lisa Drew discovered that her ZIP code was a black hole for individual coverage.
A Novel Way To Get Unlimited Primary Care
Michelle Andrews, author of KHN’s “Insuring Your Health” weekly feature, talks with Jackie Judd about clinics that charge a patient a monthly fee
There Aren’t Enough Rich People To Pay For Medicare And Medicaid! — Guest Opinion
This country is in such a hole that it is senseless to deny that some new taxes will be needed to pay for all of the nation’s accumulated debts. But folks, we can’t just tax our way out of this mess.
ACO Fairy Tale Faces a Rumpelstiltskin Moment — Guest Opinion
When writing the final ACO rules, CMS has the chance to spin the dross of the current regulations into something of genuine value to providers, even if it’s not quite Rumpelstiltskin-quality gold. If the feds fail, it is all of us, not just those on Medicare program, who could live unhappily ever after.
People Who Donate Organs For Transplants Can Have Difficulty Getting Insurance
Live organ donors – who can offer kidneys or part of their liver, lung or pancreas
Medical Device Industry Lobbies IRS and Congress To Dodge Health Law Tax
The medical device industry took a hit during legislative deal-making over health care last year, an excise tax that’s expected to yield $20 billion over 10 years, but the industry is using all its Capitol Hill muscle in a drive to kill the tax.
Governors’ Letter Shows Why Medicaid Block Grants Are Necessary — Guest Opinon
Seventeen governors sent a letter to congressional leaders in opposition to a plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to convert Medicaid into a block grant program. But their criticisms fall flat.
The Ryan Plan: An Attempt To Reduce Health Care Spending, But At A High Cost
The GOP vision for health care reform, as expressed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R- Wis., is to limit federal health care spending to levels far below what they are today, and then let individuals make the best of it. The federal health law not only offers a more realistic approach to controlling costs, but a more humane one.
