Latest KFF Health News Stories
Healthy Indiana: Conservatives’ Reform Poster Child Or Another Costly Program?
The Healthy Indiana Plan is the Hoosier state’s alternative to traditional Medicaid. It’s boosters also consider it a viable alternative to the dreaded Affordable Care Act. But do they really have a case?
Medicine’s Rising Costs Put Hippocratic Oath At Risk
A health policy analyst and physician says doctors are under pressure to ration care.
Brokers Seek To Preserve Role In Health Insurance Marketplace
Insurance agents fear the health reform law threatens their livelihood and want changes in rules to protect their commissions and guarantee them a role in the new health exchanges.
Many Adults Struggle To Pay Medical Bills, Report Finds
The recession and rising health costs create financial hardships or cause consumers to forgo care, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund.
The ‘Missing Link’ In ACOs: Patients
Is it realistic to leverage the success of accountable care organizations on physician incentives alone? In other words, what about patients? Might they be that mysterious point that determines the effectiveness of ACO evolution?
Pharmacists Expand Role To Help Educate And Coach Patients
Consumers often find it easier to get time with a pharmacist than a doctor, so drug stores are offering more outreach programs about chronic health problems.
Can My Insurer Deny My 22-Year-Old Health Insurance Coverage?
A reader wonders if she can put her 22-year-old self-employed daughter, who currently has insurance on her own, back on the family policy.
Will Access To Health Insurance For My Sick Wife Be Better After 2014?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if access to good health insurance will be better for his sick wife after 2014.
Will My Son With Pre-existing Conditions Be Able To Buy Health Insurance?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if her son with a pre-existing condition will be able to buy health insurance under the new law.
Wyden-Brown And The Health Law: A Match Made In Heaven Or Limbo?
President Barack Obama’s surprise signal last week to governors that he was willing to give states some extra flexibility in implementing the law is particularly noteworthy because it offers a useful window into the health law’ s evolving politics and the future bargaining that will likely take place.
From California To The New York Island, A New Understanding Of Higher Medicare Spending
CMS analysis shows that some regions with high spending levels are below the national average if patient health and special expenses are factored in.
Some Medical Practices Move To Monthly Membership Fees For Patients
These new plans cut out insurance policies and offer unlimited access to doctors and nurse practitioners for a modest, set fee.
Younger, Disabled Medicare Beneficiaries Have Trouble Getting Supplementary Insurance
Federal law does not guarantee beneficiaries under the age of 65 the right to buy Medigap coverage and even when they do qualify for a plan, it is often prohibitively expensive.
So This Is Freedom? They Must Be Joking.
Despite the rhetoric about compromise, what President Barack Obama actually did when he announced that states would have some flexibility in implementing the health law was give states the option of replacing his law with a single-payer health system three years earlier than it otherwise could have happened.
Fixing America’s Health Care Reimbursement System
Addressing the current system by which physician payment is determined is a challenge that demands attention beyond the physician community. It will take the influence of businesses and patient advocates who bear the brunt of the nation’s skyrocketing health care costs.
A Message To Health Law Critics: It’s Not About A Lack Of Flexibility
What truly undermines the arguments offered by conservative critics is their lack of workable alternative ideas that would achieve the health insurance coverage expansion goals set by the health law.
Insurance Trade-Off: Reducing Premiums By Eliminating Expensive Doctors, Hospitals
Some insurers are offering consumers a hefty break if they pay more out-of-pocket when they use certain high-cost providers in their network or are cutting the providers from the coverage.
Helping Patients Understand Their Medical Treatment
Consumers are increasingly expected to manage their complex regimens but that is especially challenging for those who don’t have the ability to comprehend health information.
Govs vs. Feds: Who Will Play The ‘Power Card’ In The Medicaid Struggle?
Medicaid is the rope in the current tug of war between the states and the federal government over health reform. So far, the feds think they are winning. But don’t discount the governors.
Regulators Penalize Some Maryland Hospitals For Complication Rates
A Maryland program to curb hospital infection rates is showing signs of success, but nine hospitals still fell short last year and were penalized a total of $2.1 million.
