Latest KFF Health News Stories
Shutdown Not Hurting Seniors’ Ability To Get Medicare Plan Information
The government may still be shut down — for now — and federal websites still caution visitors that information may not be up to date while the government is closed. But Medicare beneficiaries do not have to worry about getting accurate details from the plan finder website during the current open enrollment season, officials said. […]
States’ Medicaid Decisions Cost Community Health Centers
Community health centers will pay a steep price for states’ decisions not to expand Medicaid under the federal health law. A new study by George Washington University researchers estimates that 518 health centers in the more than two dozen states not expanding Medicaid will lose out on $555 million next year because their uninsured patients won’t […]
Report: 5.2 Million Adults Will Fall Into ACA Coverage Gap Next Year
About 5.2 million poor, uninsured adults will fall into the “coverage gap,” created by 26 states choosing not to expand Medicaid under the federal health law next year, according to a study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) These people are projected to have incomes too high to qualify […]
Rocky Opening Leaves Health Law’s New Co-Ops Jittery
Nothing is more important for a startup burning through cash than winning customers and revenue. So problems with the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplaces, also known as exchanges, aren’t just an inconvenience for the likes of Evergreen Health Co-op. They’re a threat. “It’s slowly getting better. Some people have gotten to the enrollment stage before […]
Colorado Insurance Exchange Week One: Few Enrollments, Lots Of Interest
Despite a relatively low number of people buying coverage in its first week, the board in charge of Colorado’s health insurance exchange is generally pleased with how it’s running. Connect for Health Colorado, which is branding itself as C4HCO, says it had 162,941 unique visitors to its website October 1-7. Of those, 226 purchased health […]
Obamacare Enrollees Become Urban Legend
This story was produced in partnership with the Will the Floridians who have enrolled for Obamacare please stand up? Nearly two weeks after the federal government launched the online Health Insurance Marketplace at healthcare.gov, individuals who have successfully used the choked-up website to enroll for a subsidized health insurance plan have reached a status akin […]
How Consumers Are Navigating The Marketplaces
KHN’s Julie Appleby was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Monday discussing consumer issues with the new online insurance marketplaces that launched Oct. 1. Watch the video below. This is part of a regular Monday morning segment on Washington Journal. Tune in each week to stay informed about the latest developments in health policy.
Healthcare.gov Offers New Shopping Feature — Sort Of
With consumers in 36 states struggling to access a federal exchange website to compare health plans, the Obama administration launched a new online tool Thursday that lets users see premium estimates by state, health plan and two age categories. One of the biggest criticisms of healthcare.gov was that consumers had to create an account before they could even look to see what […]
Some Good News About Saving For Retirement Health Costs
Saving for health care after retirement is less costly than it was just a few years ago thanks to the slowed growth of health care spending. But that’s just part of the picture. A new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that Medicare beneficiaries, who are 65 years or older, would need to […]
Hawaiians Still Unable To Shop On State Exchange
Hawaii, President Barack Obama’s birthplace, has the only online health insurance marketplace that has not yet launched. Ten days after the Hawaii Health Connector was supposed to allow consumers and small employers to shop and enroll for coverage, officials are using paper applications and referring people to insurers’ websites to check prices. About 100,000 people are uninsured in Hawaii. It is […]
Health Law Fight Complicated By Shutdown, Debt Ceiling Battles
Fights over defunding the health law remain at the center of legislative battles eight days into a federal government shutdown and just a week before the nation hits its debt ceiling. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and CQ Roll Call’s Emily Ethridge discuss the latest.
N.Y. Exchange Says 40,000 Have Applied For Coverage
New York’s online insurance exchange on Tuesday said more than 40,000 people have completed applications for coverage so far, though not all have chosen a health plan. Officials from the exchange, called NY State of Health, said these applicants were found eligible to buy a health plan. Nationally, nearly 80,000 people have applied for coverage in the […]
28,000 Sign Up For Health Insurance Through California’s Exchange
More than 16,000 applications on behalf of 28,700 people have been completed through the state’s insurance marketplace, Covered California, officials announced Tuesday. Executive Director Peter Lee said 16,311 applications, some representing several family members, were completed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5 and another 27,305 are in process. Lee did not specify how many of […]
Navigating The Marketplaces: Reader Questions Answered
KHN’s Julie Appleby, the Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff and Consumers’ Checkbook’s Robert Krughoff answered readers questions today about enrollment in the health law’s new insurance marketplaces. A transcript of the discussion follows. READER QUESTION: My daughter earns $22,000 a year. Her employer offers insurance. Does she have to get insurance through her employer if it’s not more […]
Join A Live Discussion Today On Washingtonpost.com
KHN’s Julie Appleby joins The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff and Consumers’ Checkbook’s Robert Krughoff to answer readers questions about enrollment in the health law’s new insurance marketplaces today at 12:00 noon ET. If you can’t participate in the discussion live, you can submit your questions in advance: http://live.washingtonpost.com/affordable-care-act-what-are-your-thoughts-and-questions.html A full transcript of the Q&A session […]
Why Some Veterinarians Have a Bone To Pick With Obamacare
Dr. Douglas Aspros says the federal health law is increasing his costs to buy medical equipment, which he has no choice but to pass onto his patients — most whom are uninsured. None of Aspros’ patients, though, will benefit from the law’s expansion of coverage. Aspros, you see, treats dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, parrots and other […]
Addressing A Dangerous Epidemic: Abuse Of Painkillers And Other Prescription Drugs
About 50 Americans die every day from a prescription drug overdose — a tally that, in most states, turns out to be more than deaths from car accidents. In a new report, “Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic,” researchers at the Trust for America’s Health found that rates of overdose and addiction doubled […]
Report: Even States Not Expanding Medicaid Will See Surge In Spending, Enrollment
Medicaid enrollment is expected to surge by nearly 12 percent next year in states expanding the program under the health law, but even states that will not expand eligibility project a 5 percent jump in the number of people enrolled in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, according to a new report issued Monday. Total federal and state […]
Seattle Hospital Sues State Over Exclusion From Exchange Plan Networks
This story was produced in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital filed suit Friday over the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s “failure to ensure adequate network coverage” in several of the health plans sold on the state’s new online insurance marketplace, called Washington Healthplanfinder. Most health plans now being sold through the state’s new health-insurance […]
Federal Insurance Marketplace Can’t Yet ‘Talk’ To State Medicaid Agencies
The health law’s online insurance exchanges were supposed to be a one-stop shop where consumers browsing for coverage could enroll in a private health plan or in Medicaid if they qualified. But that won’t happen with the federal exchange being relied upon by consumers in 36 states, at least not initially. The federal website won’t be […]
