Latest KFF Health News Stories
Fast Food’s Slow Exit From Hospitals
On one side of a wall inside the Truman Medical Center cafeteria in Kansas City, Mo., the menu features low-calorie, low-fat and low-sodium meals. On the other side of the wall is a McDonald’s, featuring hamburgers and french fries. The pairing is a sore point for hospital CEO John Bluford who, as chair last year […]
Planned Parenthood Sues Texas Over Defunding
Planned Parenthood branches across Texas have filed a federal lawsuit to prevent Gov. Rick Perry’s administration from excluding them from a women’s health program. A month ago, Texas was dropped from a federal program that helps subsidize contraception and reproductive check-ups for poor women. Even though the program has nothing to do with abortion, Perry wanted […]
Q&A: Navigating Options For Long Term Care
There are many restrictions on purchasing long term care insurance. Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about other options.
Panel Proposes A New Tax To Pay For Public Health
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. It may sound counterintuitive, but a panel of experts from the Institute of Medicine has concluded that the best way to slow the nation’s breakneck spending on medical care is to impose a tax on every health care transaction. That tax — amount TBD, but possibly a […]
Today’s Headlines – April 11, 2012
Good morning! We have a few headlines on how the public feels about the health law this morning. Read on! The Washington Post: Poll: More Americans Expect Supreme Court’s Health-Care Decision To Be Political More Americans think Supreme Court justices will be acting mainly on their partisan political views than on a neutral reading of […]
Bloggers Stew Over Obama’s Warning On ‘Judicial Activism’
Nearly any comment from a sitting president can elicit negative feedback from opponents. But when a president takes on the Supreme Court — and raises questions about the proper role of the judiciary vis-a-vis Congress — the response can be swift and loud. That’s the case this week as the blogosphere reacts to President Barack Obama’s […]
Study: Dental Therapists Thrive On A Global Scale
More than 50 million Americans lack access to dental care, but only two states — Minnesota and Alaska — allow mid-level dental providers to practice basic dental services on low-income, low-access communities. Today a report released by the the W.K. Kellogg Foundation looks at 26 nations and territories’ experiences with mid-level dental therapists, and found that they […]
ACOs Multiply As Medicare Announces 27 New Ones
A key provision of the health law supports the creation of organizations intended to improve quality of care and to restrain rising costs.
Today’s Headlines – April 10, 2012
Happy Tuesday morning! Here are your morning headlines to get you going: The Washington Post: Health-Care Law Will Add $340 Billion To Deficit, New Study Finds President Obama’s landmark health-care initiative, long touted as a means to control costs, will actually add more than $340 billion to the nation’s budget woes over the next decade, […]
Has The Saturation Point For Under-26 Coverage Been Reached?
Has one of the health law’s most popular benefits – the provision that allows children to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26 – hit a plateau? A recent survey suggests this might be case. According to a Gallup poll released last week, the uninsured rate among 18- to 25-year-olds has leveled off around 24 percent […]
Study: Higher U.S. Costs For Cancer Care May Be ‘Worth It’
Higher U.S. spending for cancer care pays off in almost two years of additional life for American cancer patients on average compared to their European counterparts — a value that offsets the higher costs –according to a study in the April issue of the journal Health Affairs. While previous studies have suggested U.S. cancer patients […]
Recession Boosted Hospital Expansions Into Affluent Areas, Study Finds
Amid the recession, hospitals have been aggressively establishing footholds in affluent areas outside their traditional market boundaries as they fight for the patients with the best insurance, according to a new study. The paper, published in Health Affairs, found hospitals “wooing” EMS workers that service well-off neighborhoods, even sprucing up the rooms where the workers […]
Today’s Headlines – April 9, 2012
Good morning and welcome back from the weekend. Here are your morning headlines: The Wall Street Journal: Both Parties Wooing Seniors President Barack Obama and Democrats are counting on regaining support from older voters who switched to the GOP in 2008 and 2010 by attacking Republican plans to revamp Medicare. But Mitt Romney is proving […]
In Kansas, No Consensus On How To End ‘Dental Deserts’
In an ongoing disagreement over how to solve dental care access problems in rural parts of the state, there is one thing no one disputes: the great need.
Arizona Gets OK To Expand Health Coverage To Kids
Nearly 22,000 poor kids in Arizona will gain health insurance coverage under a Medicaid deal the state has reached with the Obama administration, federal officials said Friday. The agreement lets Arizona use a combination of county dollars, money from the University of Arizona Health System and a small amount of state money gained from Indian gaming operations to draw down […]
Obama Ties Women’s Economic Future To Health Law
President Barack Obama brought together Friday two of his biggest campaign issues, health care and the economy, in an appeal to women voters, who have favored the president over GOP rivals in recent polls. During remarks at a White House forum on women and the economy, Obama described how provisions of the 2010 health law […]
Berwick Calls For Leaders To Rise Above ‘Political Catechism’
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. Rolling Stone: Don Berwick On The Fate Of ‘Obamacare’ Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government’s health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would […]
Today’s Headlines – April 6, 2012
Good morning, and happy Friday. Hope you have a great weekend, but first, here are your morning headlines: The New York Times: Administration Concedes Courts’ Review Power The Obama administration stipulated the incontestable to a disgruntled federal court on Thursday, formally declaring that “the power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is […]
Health Care Hiring Boom Projected To Continue, Regardless Of Law
Health-care employment will continue to grow much faster than employment generally, with the number of jobs in home care and other ambulatory settings projected to jump more than 40 percent by 2020, a new study suggests. New figures from the Labor Department highlight an expected hiring shift away from hospitals, as the system puts greater emphasis on preventive […]
Q&A: Should You Have Access To Your Lab Results?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader about patient access to test results. The reader asks: In order for patients to take more responsibility for their care shouldn’t the lab be required to send them results unless specifically precluded by the doctor?
