Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines — July 10, 2012
Good morning! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including findings of a new Washington Post poll indicating Americans remain divided on the health law. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, cracks may be emerging in the Republican’s repeal effort. The Washington Post: Americans Still Divided On Health-Care Reform: Poll Americans are as evenly divided as […]
ACO Rollout Continues With 89 New Networks
The next round of accountable care organizations is out at last. On Monday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the selection of 89 new ACOs. That’s more than triple the number of ACOs selected in the previous round. As of July 1, the newly anointed networks became responsible for providing better, cheaper […]
CBO To Release New Budget Numbers for Health Law Week of July 23
The Congressional Budget Office will release its estimate of the federal budgetary impact of the Supreme Court health law ruling the week of July 23, according to a blog post by CBO Director Doug Elmendorf. “Because such updated projections are the base against which CBO will estimate the budgetary effects of changes in the ACA, […]
Some Employers Waiting Until After Elections To Prepare For Health Law
For one in six employers, the Supreme Court’s health law decision wasn’t enough to convince them to prepare for big changes set to take effect in 2014, according to Mercer, an employer consultant. Mercer surveyed 4,000 employers after the court’s ruling, and found that 16 percent still intended to wait until after the November election to […]
GOP To Make 31st Attempt To Repeal Obamacare Act
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. The House Rules Committee takes up a bill Monday called the “Repeal of Obamacare Act.” And just like it says, the bill would wipe away the president’s Affordable Care Act. A vote of the full House is planned for Wednesday. It’s the first legislative response from […]
Today’s Headlines — July 9, 2012
Good morning! Here are some headlines to get your day going: NPR: GOP To Make 31st Attempt To Repeal Obamacare Act The House Rules Committee takes up a bill Monday called the “Repeal of Obamacare Act.” And just like it says, the bill would wipe away the president’s Affordable Care Act. A vote of the […]
The Man Behind The ‘Personhood’ Crusade; Atul Gawande On SCOTUS; ‘No One Dies Alone’ Program
Every week, KHN reporter Shefali S. Kulkarni selects interesting reading from around the Web. Newsweek: Behind ‘Personhood’ Leader Keith Mason’s Anti-Abortion Crusade In the four years since Mason launched the pro-life group Personhood USA, he has been crisscrossing the country to convince voters that the best way to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that […]
Today’s Headlines – July 6, 2012
Los Angeles Times: Obama Takes The Offensive On His Healthcare Law A week after the Supreme Court upheld most of President Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, the politics of healthcare held center stage in the presidential campaign, shoving aside the economic debate that has dominated most of the last several months. In a notable shift […]
Study: High CEO Pay Doesn’t Boost Hospital Quality
Everybody agrees the health system needs to improve patient results even as it becomes more efficient. So shouldn’t we reward hospital managers who make progress in both areas? That doesn’t seem to be the case in New Hampshire, according to a new study from the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. At a time when many contend that hospitals should focus […]
How Many Will Remain Uninsured if States Don’t Expand Medicaid?
Since the Supreme Court ruled that states won’t be required under the health law to expand Medicaid, Washington has been buzzing with estimates about the numbers of poor people who could be left uninsured. But the numbers so far have been inflated, because they included both those who would become eligible for the first time […]
Medicaid Expansion Already An Issue In Some Gubernatorial Races
Hours after the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s health law but made its Medicaid expansion optional, Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Randles said the state would be foolish to expand the health insurance program for the poor — even it means passing up hundreds of millions of federal dollars. “States that accept this new […]
Today’s Headlines – July 5, 2012
Good morning! Hope you had a great holiday. Here are your headlines: Politico: Romney Shifts, Says Mandate’s A Tax Directly contradicting his senior adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney told CBS that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is “a tax.” Earlier this week, Fehrnstrom said in a TV appearance that Romney […]
Marketing Mavens Offer Advice On Handling Health Law Messaging
By Sarah Barr, Matthew Fleming, Shefali S. Kulkarni, David Schultz and Christian Torres The reviews and polls are already starting to come in: The Supreme Court’s ruling last week did not have an immediate significant effect on public opinion of the health law. But that doesn’t mean that supporters and opponents won’t continue to try to shape […]
Tax Or Penalty? Individual Mandate Haunts Romney
Updated 4:15 p.m. on July 4 The Massachusetts health care law, Mitt Romney’s signature achievement as governor, is adding more pressure to the expected GOP presidential nominee’s campaign. Romney’s support for the requirement that all residents have health insurance, known as the individual mandate, is at the heart of his predicament. The issue is whether […]
Report: Spending On Children’s Care Rose Because Of Higher Prices
Health care spending is growing significantly faster for children than for adults, and a new report finds that that’s largely because of price increases. From 2007 through 2010, per capita spending for children covered by an employer-sponsored plan increased 18.6 percent to slightly more than $2,100 a year. Also during the four years, the average cost of […]
States Could Cut Medicaid Rolls In 2014 As A Result Of Court Ruling
Some low-income adults could be thrown “into a black hole with nowhere to turn for coverage.”
Doc Payments Show Underbelly Of Pill Marketing
How do pharmaceutical companies boost sales and drive up health costs? Pay celebrity doctors to talk about their pills. Take doctors on lavish junkets. Misrepresent research. Push pills for unapproved uses. None of which comes as news, given previous revelations. Documents unsealed as part of GlaxoSmithKline’s settlement with federal prosecutors, however, offer a rare look […]
Today’s Headlines — July 3, 2012
Good morning! Have you caught your breath yet? Here are today’s headlines … Los Angeles Times: Poll Shows Americans Want Battles Over Healthcare Law To Stop In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to largely uphold President Obama’s healthcare law, a majority of Americans now want to put the fight over the Affordable Care […]
Webcast: Your Questions Answered About The Supreme Court Ruling
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey moderates a panel discussion with KHN’s Marilyn Werber Serafini, Politico’s Jennifer Haberkorn and the L.A. Times’ Noam N. Levey. The reporters field your questions and break down Thursday’s landmark Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the health law.
Broad Implications For Court’s Ruling On Medicaid Expansion
Although the Supreme Court’s validation of the health law’s individual mandate dominated the reports on the decision, the court’s ruling on the Medicaid expansion could have just as broad an impact. The court said that if state leaders decide to forgo the infusion of federal money to extend Medicaid – a joint federal-state financed program […]
