Latest KFF Health News Stories
Women’s Groups Challenge GOP Candidates On OTC Birth Control
Women’s health groups are launching a counterattack against suggestions by several Republican Senate candidates that making birth control pills available without a prescription is the answer to the dispute over contraceptive coverage rules in the health law. At least four Republicans running for the U.S. Senate have proposed over-the-counter pills in recent weeks, including Ed […]
Open Payments Database: Despite Criticism, Still On Track To Let The Sunshine In
Despite technical glitches, the federal “Open Payments” database – which tracks pharmaceutical company contributions to doctors and teaching hospitals – remains on track for its scheduled Sept. 30 launch, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed. It was mandated by a sunshine act included in the federal health law seeking to ease concerns that […]
Health Law Not The Reason For Republican Election Enthusiasm, Poll Finds
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Heading into the 2014 mid-term congressional elections, health care is not shaping up as a make-or-break issue, according to a new poll. Health care trails jobs and the economy as a top issue on voters’ minds this fall, 21 percent to 13 percent. Only 3 percent […]
$60 Million For 34 States To Boost Obamacare Enrollment
Two Planned Parenthood chapters, two United Way organizations, a food bank association and a Catholic hospital system are among 90 nonprofit groups that will receive a total of $60 million to help people sign up for health insurance, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today. The money will help people in 34 states that rely on […]
Early Results: Average 2015 Exchange Premiums Decline Slightly
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan. Prices for a benchmark “silver” or mid-priced plan sold through the health law’s online marketplaces aren’t all moving […]
DC Appeals Court Agrees To Rehear Case That Could Cripple Health Law
The controversial federal court decision that threatened the future of the Affordable Care Act is no more. The full District of Columbia Court of Appeals Thursday agreed to rehear Halbig v. Burwell, a case charging that the federal government lacks the authority to provide consumers tax credits in health insurance exchanges not run by states. […]
Indiana, Several Other States Look To Expand Medicaid Next Year
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Who’s next? With the long-awaited deal to expand Medicaid finally struck last week between Pennsylvania and the Obama administration, 27 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a key coverage plank of the Affordable Care Act. And the momentum continues to grow in Republican-led states […]
Another Audit Finds Fault With Nursing Home Inspections In Los Angeles County
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Los Angeles County public health officials inappropriately closed nursing home investigations and failed to follow state guidelines on prioritizing complaints, according to an audit released this week. The Los Angeles County auditor-controller also found that even after nursing home inspectors found serious problems, their supervisors downgraded […]
Report: Health Law Ups Taxes On Insurers With Big Pay Packages
While average compensation for top health insurance executives hit $5.4 million each last year, a little-noticed provision in the federal health law sharply reduced insurers’ ability to shield much of that pay from corporate taxes, says a report out today. As a result, insurers owed at least $72 million more to the U.S. Treasury last […]
Wide Variation In Hospital Charges For Blood Tests Called ‘Irrational’
One California hospital charged $10 for a blood cholesterol test, while another hospital that ran the same test charged $10,169 — over 1,000 times more. For another common blood test called a basic metabolic panel, the average hospital charge was $371, but prices ranged from a low of $35 to a high of $7,303, more […]
If You Have A Stroke, Better It Should Be In Paris
PARIS–I had a stroke last month, oh boy. It’s just that I didn’t know it. Here’s what happened: Only after three days of flashing, floating visual squiggles — commonly known as ocular migraines that usually last 20 minutes — do I email my old friend Dr. John Krakauer, who helps run stroke recovery at Johns […]
Exchange Assisters Want More Training To Help Consumers — Even After They Enroll
With the Nov. 15 kick-off for this year’s health law enrollment season fast approaching, the need for more training for the people who help consumers navigate the health insurance marketplace is growing increasingly clear. For example, 92 percent of health insurance marketplace assister programs say they want more preparation than they received last year, according […]
Large California Insurers Invite Others To Join Data Network
Now that two of California’s biggest health insurers have teamed up on a project to share patients’ digitized medical records, they are planning to invite other companies to join. The project will initially cover about 9 million Californians, making it possible for doctors and hospitals to quickly access patients’ medical histories and avoid unnecessary tests […]
Survey: Insurance Rates Lag In Health Law Holdout States
A Gallup poll released Tuesday says that the Affordable Care Act is significantly increasing the number of Americans with health insurance, especially in states that are embracing the law. It echoes previous Gallup surveys, and similar findings by the Urban Institute and RAND Corp. The latest Gallup survey found that, nationwide, the number of uninsured […]
Advocates Say Florida Consumers To Pay For State Lawmakers’ Decision
Republicans were quick to pounce Monday on Florida’s announcement that residents buying health insurance on the individual market for next year will face a 13.2 percent average increase in monthly premiums — one of the steepest rate hikes announced for any state. “Obamacare is a bad law that just seems to be getting worse,” said […]
Some California Hospitals, Insurers Disappointed in ‘Bundled Payments’
Giving health-care providers a lump sum payment for certain treatments – touted as a way to save money and improve coordination of care — yielded disappointing results for some major California hospitals and insurers, a study found. The RAND Corp. study, funded by a $2.9-million federal grant, looked at “bundled payments” for care of insured […]
Poverty Linked To Diabetic Amputations In California
People with diabetes in low-income neighborhoods in California are twice as likely to have a leg or foot amputated as those living in wealthier areas, according to a study released Monday. The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, underscores the stark differences in outcomes for diabetes patients throughout the state. “We are not particularly […]
Smokers Paying Less For Some Health Plans Than Expected
The health law allows insurance plans to charge tobacco users as much as 50 percent more for their premiums, but plans on average increased costs for these consumers by significantly less, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. Researchers found the median surcharge amount to be about 10 percent. Close to 90 percent […]
Study: ER Closures Raise Death Rates At Nearby Hospitals
Emergency patients who are admitted to the hospital are at greater risk of dying if another emergency room at a hospital nearby has closed its doors, a new study of California hospitals has found. The analysis is believed to be the first to examine the impact that emergency department closures have on the quality of […]
Unfavorable Views Of Health Law Spike In July: Poll
The health law’s unpopularity among the public rose sharply in July with a surge of disapproval from people who had been agnostic about it in recent months, a poll released Friday shows. The law is as unpopular as it has been since it was enacted four years ago. The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation […]
