Latest KFF Health News Stories
Groups Seek To Fast-Track Efforts To Curb Costs, Boost Quality
Five veteran health care leaders representing insurers, hospitals, employers and consumers on Thursday outlined an ambitious set of recommendations aimed at slowing rising costs, focused mainly on changing the way America pays for health care. Many of the ideas draw on existing efforts, such as accelerating Medicare’s efforts to pay for quality rather than just […]
Colorado’s Pitch For New Business: Healthy, Lean Workers Cost Less
The cost of doing business may be lower in areas where there’s a “culture of health.” And that’s put Colorado, which has the lowest adult obesity rate in the nation, on the map for companies looking to relocate or expand. Kelly Brough is proud of this. She runs the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and she’s […]
Hospitals In 5 States Clamp Down On Delivering Babies Before 39 Weeks
When hospitals commit to stopping the delivery of babies before 39 weeks gestation unless there is medical cause to do so, they can dramatically lower rates that can put babies at increased risk for serious health problems. A study published Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology showed a group of 25 hospitals in five states were able to cut their […]
Study: States Lag On Tracking Potential Obamacare Loophole
What if there were a way for even small employers to escape some Affordable Care Act rules blamed for driving up costs? Some see self-insurance for medical care, which is exempt from the law’s taxes, benefit rules and price restrictions taking effect next year, as just such an opportunity. Self-insured firms finance most worker health costs and […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Restrictions On Morning-After Pill
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. A federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., has ruled that the morning-after pill for emergency contraception must be made available over the counter to girls 16 and under. The ruling could end a more than decade-long battle over how easy or difficult it should be for teenage […]
Texas Legislature Weighing 5 Key Proposals To Limit Abortions
Anti-abortion forces in Texas achieved a major triumph in 2011, the last time the state legislature convened. They passed laws requiring a 24-hour waiting period and requiring all women seeking an abortion to undergo a fetal ultrasound. The idea was to force down abortion rates by changing women’s minds. A follow-up study indicated that abortions […]
GOP Members Call For Increased Spending To Cover Pre-Existing Conditions
Republicans who have spent the past three years blasting the health care overhaul as an overreach by the federal government said Wednesday the law didn’t allocate nearly enough money for a temporary program offering insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. Citing financial concerns, the Obama administration last month stopped enrolling new people into the Pre-existing Condition Insurance […]
Despite Federal Delay, Minn. Vows To Have Small Business Options On New Health Exchange
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Workers at small businesses that buy health insurance on MNSURE — Minnesota’s new online marketplace — will have access to features that will be delayed in many other states. These marketplaces, also called exchanges, will offer health plans for individuals and small businesses, and they are being set up in each […]
Why You May Want To Reconsider That Plan With A Health Savings Account
Health plan deductibles keep getting higher — the proportion of workers with a deductible that topped $1,000 for single coverage nearly tripled in the past five years, to 34 percent. Since high-deductible plans often mean you pay more out of pocket for medical care, it might seem like a no-brainer to sign up for a plan that […]
No Rate Shock Seen In Proposed 2014 Premiums In Vermont
After years of anticipation, Vermont became the first state Monday to publish proposed 2014 individual health insurance rates under the federal health law. Despite Republican and insurers’ predictions, there was no “rate shock” in the new premiums, according to the Vermont governor’s office and insurance representatives. That state may not be the best barometer of the impact […]
IG Report Slaps Medicare For Not Recouping More Overpayment For Equipment
Medicare has made nearly $70 million in overpayments to suppliers of consumers’ medical equipment, and more than half of that money is unlikely to be recovered, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General. Since 2009, Medicare has required suppliers of such durable medical equipment, which includes wheelchairs, walkers […]
Oregon Shows Costs Of Putting Medicaid Enrollees In Private Coverage
The Arkansas plan to expand Medicaid by paying for enrollees to buy private health insurance has been billed as a new option for states led by Republicans who are leery of the federal health overhaul. And it’s getting attention from Republican leaders in Florida and Ohio, among other states. However, the strategy is not new. […]
Obamacare Is No Stumbling Block For Taxpayers This Year
If you haven’t done your taxes yet, this ad from H&R Block might make you feel even more anxious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w-zoseqxUw Meg Sutton, H&R Block’s senior advisor for tax and health care services, offered some details on what the big changes are. “So the big changes are, really, just filing that return,” she explained. “And so, getting into […]
Tight Medicaid Eligibility Leads To More Adults Delaying Care
Hidalgo is a county in southern Texas just across the Rio Grande from Mexico. It’s also home to the highest prevalence of U.S. adults – about 40 percent of the population– delaying necessary medical care because of cost, according to data in the March 28 New England Journal of Medicine. The research letter in the March 28 […]
Audit Finds Shortcomings In Minn. Verifications Of Income, Other Information
An audit released Tuesday shows Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has not been adequately verifying the eligibility of participants in some of its public assistance programs. Such verifications are a requirement of state and federal law, and the legislative auditor says his office first alerted the department to some of the problems more than a decade ago. […]
A Bridge To Health — And Away From ER Overuse
There are patients in almost every hospital emergency room who do not need urgent care. They are there because they don’t have health insurance or a regular physician, or they didn’t know what else to do. Often, they are repeat visitors. It’s a problem that leads to emergency department overuse and contributes to spiraling health […]
Arkansas Medicaid Plan, Born Of Necessity, Shakes Things Up
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Since the Supreme Court made the Medicaid expansion under the federal health law optional last year, states’ decisions have largely split along party lines. States run by Democrats have been opting in; states run by Republicans have mostly been saying no or holding back. But now Arkansas – at the […]
Officials Unveil More Details Of Colo. Exchange Funding
A week after approving a tax on health insurance policies, Colorado officials are offering more details of their plans to fund the state’s health insurance exchange after federal backing runs out in 2014. Last week the state’s exchange board approved, with broad support, a 1.4 percent fee on all policies sold in the exchange. This […]
Doctors Eager For Evidence About Integrated Health Systems
Doctors say they are finding more opportunities in the integrated health systems that have been touted in the federal health law, such as accountable care organizations, which are groups of health providers and hospitals that work together to improve patient care and lower costs. But they are still hesitant to change their practices without more evidence […]
Who Are The Uninsured? The Feds Parse The Numbers
There are 48.4 million uninsured Americans — about 18 percent of the population — according to the last Census. But who are they? And what is the best way to get them signed up for new health insurance coverage options that roll out this fall? The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has just released […]
