Latest KFF Health News Stories
Final Medical Loss Ratio Rule Rebuffs Insurance Agents
The Obama administration issued a rule today that is sure to disappoint insurance agents: Fees paid to brokers and agents won’t count as medical care, under limits imposed on insurers in the 2010 federal health law. That’s key because under the health law, insurers must spend at least 80 percent of their premium revenue on medical […]
Care Management Showing Promise, Group Says
Care management programs, which combine information technology, patient-centered nursing and care coordination, have helped Alliance of Community Health Plan (AHCP) members cut costs and improve patient care, the group said in a report released Wednesday. For example, the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle has reported more than $2.5 million in cost savings during the first […]
Today’s Headlines – December 2, 2011
Good morning and happy Friday! Here are your headlines for this a.m.: Los Angeles Times: Kagan, Thomas Pressed To Stay Out Of Healthcare Fight As the Supreme Court prepares to consider one of the most closely watched cases in its recent history, two of its nine justices — one on the left and one on […]
Study: Few Healthy Food Choices At Calif. Children’s Hospitals
Fried food, a cookie, ice cream and soda. It’s a dieter’s nightmare. It’s also what many children’s hospitals in California are offering their patients, staff and visitors. Researchers with the UCLA School of Medicine and RAND Corporation visited the state’s 14 major children’s hospitals last year and found many less-than-ideal food options. According to their […]
Foster Kids More Likely To Be Given Psychotropic Drugs
Kids in foster care are significantly more likely than other children to be given mind-altering drugs, according to a study of five states released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office. The report, which focused on children in the Medicaid program, also found that foster kids were more likely to be prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs at a […]
Obama Marks World AIDS Day With Funding Increases
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1 President Barack Obama marked World AIDS Day by announcing a $50 million funding boost for U.S. HIV/AIDS programs. “We’re committing an additional $15 million for the Ryan White program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country,” the president said. An additional $35 million will go to state AIDS Drug Assistance […]
ACOs Are Bursting Out All Over
Accountable Care Organizations are the hot new health care trend, and there’s a new study out by Leavitt Partners trying to quantify just how hot they really are. ACOs, as defined in the 2010 health law, are a delivery model that offers doctors and hospitals financial incentives to provide good quality care to Medicare beneficiaries […]
Today’s Headlines – December 1, 2011
Good morning! You’re waking up to December. Where did the year go? Here are some stories to get your day going: Politico: Eric Cantor Floats Year-End Trigger Bargain Cantor has spoken to senators from both parties — including a Thanksgiving morning phone call to the Stamford, Conn., home of Sen. Joe Lieberman — as he […]
Medicare Offers Expanded Coverage To Battle Expanding Waistlines
Keeping off the pounds is tough at any age. Now seniors are getting a helping hand from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has announced that it will cover screening and counseling for obesity as a free preventive service for Medicare beneficiaries. Coverage is effective immediately. Advocates hope that CMS’ decision may […]
Clash Between Hospital, Insurer May Reach Pa. Statehouse
This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes WHYY, and Kaiser Health News. State lawmakers are signaling a willingness to referee a fight between southwest Pennsylvania’s dominant health insurer and the region’s largest medical system. Highmark, a Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate, and UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center health system, tried […]
Iowa Hospitals to NYC: Stop Blaming Your Patients
As Medicare moves with plans to pay hospitals in part by how well they score on reviews by patients, hospitals in low satisfaction regions such as New York have been complaining that their patients are harder to please. Those arguments, however, aren’t going over well in places like Iowa where patients tend to be more positive […]
Today’s Headlines – November 30, 2011
Good morning! The Washington Post: Democrats To Attack Republicans For Pushing Medicare Cuts The Democratic Party will begin a campaign on Wednesday to attack Republican lawmakers for pushing cuts to Medicare benefits during the latest round of failed federal deficit talks, a new turn in a drama that not long ago featured top Democrats expressing […]
Support Of Health Law Rebounds A Bit
It’s up. It’s down. Americans’ views about the health care law are, well, fluid. The latest Kaiser Family Foundation monthly poll shows that the law’s popularity rose a bit after hitting a new low last month. (Kaiser Health News is a program of the foundation.) Still, more people don’t like the law than do: 44 percent to […]
More States Taking Federal Funds For Insurance Exchanges
Despite widespread opposition to the 2010 health law, a majority of states have now accepted federal funding to establish their own health insurance exchanges. The Department of Health and Human Services today announced nearly $220 million in new grants to 13 states. HHS also pushed back by six months the deadline for applying for level-one […]
Study: Florida Leads Nation In Getting More Kids Insured
Florida leads the nation in reducing the number and rate of uninsured children, according to a study released Tuesday. From 2008 to 2010, the number of uninsured children in Florida fell by more than 160,000 to 506,934, says the report by researchers at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The state’s rate of […]
Ballot Campaign To Repeal Insurance Mandate Ends In Mass.
This story is part of a reporting partnership that includs WBUR, and Kaiser Health News. If Massachusetts residents chafe at the requirement that they have health insurance, they’ll have to endure it longer. They won’t have a chance to vote against it — not in the next election, anyway. Backers of a ballot measure to […]
Today’s Headlines – November 29, 2011
Good morning, all. Here are the morning headlines to help you start your day: Politico: Mandatory Budget Cuts After Supercommittee Failure Will Trigger Pain For Some By any name, they mean pain, both for the Pentagon and for the weaklings among domestic programs. But there are winners, too: A protected class of individuals and programs […]
2 States Survey Nursing Home Residents To Assess Care
BOSTON – When choosing the right nursing home, most consumers lack one of the best sources of inside information about the facilities – from the residents themselves. But at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, researchers from Minnesota and Ohio explained how consumers in those states can find summaries of nursing home […]
Treating A Scorpion Sting: $ 100 In Mexico Or $ 12,000 In U.S.
Say you’re trekking through the desert in Mexico, minding your own business, when all of a sudden a scorpion scrambles up your boot and stings your leg. You hobble over to a nearby clinic, where you’re given a dose of anti-venom that brings you fast relief. The charge for the serum is about $100. Now […]
Today’s Headlines – November 28, 2011
Good morning! Welcome back from your Thanksgiving break! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about President Barack Obama’s pick to succeed Donald Berwick as chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as news about the Supreme Court’s consideration of the health law and more on the nation’s […]
