Latest KFF Health News Stories
Under Tight Budgets, Public Health Spending Falls For First Time
Policymakers took heart from another year of relatively slow health-spending growth in 2011, documented by government statisticians and disclosed in a report Monday. But one aspect of moderating health expenditures — and the only category showing outright decline — could cost more than it saves. Hit by recession and tight budgets, spending on public health by federal, state and local governments […]
Study: Doctors Give In To Patient Demands For Brand-Name Drugs
Doctors are more likely to prescribe brand-name drugs over lower-cost generics when patients request them and when physicians have contacts with drugmakers, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine Monday shows. The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston analyzed data from a survey of 1,891 doctors in 2009 and found that 37 percent of […]
Today’s Headlines – Jan. 7, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about entitlement spending in the context of the debt debate, as well as reports regarding the health insurance industry. The Associated Press/Washington Post: White House, GOP Draw Red Lines In Debate On US Debt Limit, Vow Not To Budge Republicans say they are willing […]
Today’s Headlines – January 4, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that the Department of Health and Human Services gave seven more states the thumbs up to run their own health exchanges. NPR: Bargain Over Fiscal Cliff Brings Changes To Health Care The bill that prevented the nation from plunging over the fiscal cliff did […]
Rural Hospitals Get Relief In Fiscal Cliff Deal
It’s not just another New Year’s Day in Wellsville, N.Y., as rural hospitals get financial relief from Congress.
Colorado Will Expand Medicaid, Governor Announces
Gov. John Hickenlooper said Colorado will expand its Medicaid program as much as the federal health care law calls for, and he said the state won’t have to spend any extra money to make it happen. The federal health overhaul law requires states to significantly expand the health care program for the poor, but when […]
Today’s Exchange Surprise: Republican-Led Utah Gets Thumbs Up From HHS
The Obama administration’s announcement Thursday that it has given Utah a conditional okay to run its own state health insurance marketplace came as a surprise to many exchange watchers. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, had resisted making major changes to the state’s existing market, which was built before passage of the health care law […]
Today’s Headlines – Jan. 3, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including more analysis of how the “fiscal cliff” deal impacts health programs as well as what the upcoming deficit talks might have in store for entitlement spending. The Washington Post’s Wonkblog: The Fiscal Cliff Cuts $1.9 Billion From Obamacare. Here’s How. The fiscal cliff deal is, […]
Consumers May Draw Wrong Conclusions From Medical Prices
Some health policy experts and consumer advocates are pushing for greater transparency in the pricing of medical good and services. If consumers know the price of an item, so the thinking goes, they’ll make smarter decisions about whether they need it. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that consumers’ perceptions […]
Fiscal Deal Kills New Funding For Health Law’s Co-Ops
Going, going, gone. The fiscal cliff deal, approved by Congress on New Year’s Day, eliminates most of the more than $1.4 billion in remaining funding from the federal health law for new nonprofit, customer-owned health plans designed to compete against the major for-profit insurers. That means the Obama administration won’t be able to approve loans […]
Today’s Headlines – Jan. 2, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a number of reports about congressional efforts to avert the “fiscal cliff.” The New York Times: Amid Pressure, House Passes Fiscal Deal Ending a climactic fiscal showdown in the final hours of the 112th Congress, the House late Tuesday passed and sent to President Obama […]
‘Doc Fix’ In ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Plan Cuts Medicare Hospital Payments
Updated at 9:30 a.m. on January 2. Legislation passed by Congress New Year’s Day to avert the dreaded “fiscal cliff” would stop a scheduled payment cut in Medicare physician payments. But hospitals, which have to bear a major part of financing for that “doc fix,” are not happy. The bill would require that, over the […]
Health Care Predictions For A New Year
KHN reporters preview some of the big issues coming this year: The fight over controlling spending and what it means for Medicare; state decisions on health law implementation; and changing how hospitals and doctors are paid.
HHS Stops Short Of Calling For Safety Regulation Of Digital Records
The Obama administration Friday urged cooperation between software companies and caregivers to prevent patient harm caused by faulty electronic records. But it stopped short of calling for regulation or a federal requirement to report computer mistakes that pose a risk to patients. “We are saying to the vendors: Step up and prove your ability to […]
Today’s Headlines – Dec. 21, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the House Republicans’ failure to pass Speaker John Boehner’s tax and federal debt plan. The New York Times: Boehner Cancels Tax Vote In Face Of G.O.P. Revolt Speaker John A. Boehner’s effort to pass fallback legislation to avert a fiscal crisis in less […]
The Gun Lobby’s Favorite Part Of The Health Law
Updated at 12:00 noon. Did you know the Affordable Care Act stands up for gun rights? The “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights” section (page 19 in this PDF) says the health law’s wellness programs can’t require participants to give information about guns in the house. It also keeps the Department of Health and Human […]
Today’s Headlines – Dec. 20, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about the efforts to reach a deal on curbing the federal deficit. The New York Times: Obama And Boehner Diverge Sharply On Fiscal Plan Hopes for a broad deficit-reduction agreement faded on Wednesday as President Obama insisted he had offered Republicans “a fair deal” […]
Today’s Headlines – Dec. 19, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. The New York Times: Hospitals Fear They’ll Bear Brunt Of Medicare Cuts As President Obama and Congress try to thrash out a budget deal, the question is not whether they will squeeze money out of Medicare, but how much […]
Colorado Gov Pitches Plan To Mend Mental Health Safety Net
In a grim coincidence, just days after the mass killing in Newtown, Conn., Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is proposing an $18.5 million plan to strengthen the state’s mental health system. The proposal is the result of five months of work by a group of advisors convened by Hickenlooper in the wake of a mass shooting in July at an […]
Spending, Taxing Remain Sticking Points As ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Looms
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey speaks with Jackie Judd about negotiations on Capitol Hill to avoid the “fiscal cliff” and just how close — or far apart — Democrats, Republicans and the White House seem to be on cutting spending and letting some tax cuts for the rich expire.
