Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicare Is Taking A Page From Priceline
The Obama administration is offering a new pricing strategy for doctors and hospitals looking to improve care and lower costs of treating Medicare beneficiaries. It could be called “Name Your Own Price” — except that’s already taken by a certain online travel website that has a certain Star Trek actor as its pitchman. But the principle […]
HHS Sponsors Contest To Develop Emergency Public Health Facebook Apps
UPDATED at 3:52 p.m. — After the Virginia earthquake. The first thing East Coasters did when the ground began to shake this afternoon was not duck under their desks, but to turn to their smart phones. The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that was felt from Durham to Toronto was immediately documented through social media like Facebook […]
Today’s Headlines – August 23, 2011
Good morning! Rick Perry grabs headlines today as news outlets examine his positions on health policies. Politico: Supercommittee Talks Have Begun, Says Fred Upton The 12-member debt committee has already held conference calls and may have a website up by the end of the week, Rep. Fred Upton said Monday. Upton, a supercommittee member, told […]
Study: Fewer Doctors Are Offering Abortions
For women seeking an abortion, finding a doctor willing to offer the procedure is easier said than done. Ninety-seven percent of obstetrician-gynecologists have encountered patients wanting an abortion, but only 14 percent performed them, according to a study published today in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Access to abortion has become more limited over the […]
Today’s Headlines – August 22, 2011
It’s Monday! Good morning! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that seniors are facing difficult times in their retirement — with issues related to assisted living, housing and health benefits driving concern. The Associated Press: Perry Wrestles With His Own Health Care Approach Texas would be among the biggest beneficiaries of […]
Social Security Disability Payments In Peril by 2017
The trust fund that supports Social Security disability benefits will run out of money by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits unless Congress acts, according to new congressional estimates.
Majority Of Docs Face Malpractice Claims
Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Shefali S. Kulkarni compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs for Kaiser Health News’ Daily Report. This week in Research Roundup: New England Journal of Medicine explorers the frequency of malpractice claims and cumulative risk of malpractice claims across specialties. The Government Accountability Office examines the Health […]
Doctors Advocating Less Care; Addiction As A ‘Disease’
Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. The Daily Beast: One Word Can Save Your Life: No! These physicians are not anti-medicine. They are not trying to save money on their copayments or deductibles. And they are not trying to rein in the nation’s soaring health-care costs, […]
Today’s Headlines – August 19, 2011
Happy Friday! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a range of reports looking ahead to the work of the deficit ‘super committee’ and other budget news. Los Angeles Times: Deficit ‘Super Committee’ Looks Set For A Bumpy Start The congressional “super committee” on deficit reduction has extraordinary new power to chart the […]
CHIP Outreach Gets More Kids Covered
If you build it, they will come … at least some of the time. The number of children eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but not enrolled fell to 4.3 million in 2009 from 4.7 million the prior year, according to a report out today. The drop is significant because it occurred even […]
Hospitals Gobble Up More Doctors
The race among hospitals to hire local physicians is heating up, even though the consequences for the cost and quality of health care are still unclear. The trend isn’t new, but hospitals in metropolitan areas across the country are quickening their pace, “driven largely by hospitals’ quest to increase market share and revenue,” according a […]
Private Medicaid Plans See Opportunity In Low-Wage Workers
Private health plans that oversee care for Medicaid patients have seized on a federal health law provision that could compound the boom their industry already expects in 2014, when the law steers 16 million more members into the state-federal partnership for low-income people. They are lobbying states to form so-called “basic health plans” that would […]
Employers: Health Plans Will Take Bigger Bite Out Of Next Year’s Paychecks
Expect to pay more for your job-based health care coverage next year, as employers continue a trend of passing along rising costs to workers. Fifty-three percent of large employers surveyed by the National Business Group on Health said they would increase the amount workers pay toward their premiums next year, although most said the rise would be […]
Today’s Headlines – August 18, 2011
Good morning! Here’s today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new HHS proposed rule that would help consumers do comparison shopping for health plans. The New York Times: Obama To Press Committee On Jobs As for deficit reduction, Mr. Obama suggested that he would call in his speech for […]
Making The Rounds With 11th Circuit’s Ruling
Bloggers are digesting the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that found the individual mandate in the health law unconstitutional, contemplating what the ruling means for the law, the Supreme Court, the health care system and President Obama’s agenda. The SCOTUS Blog has a couple posts on the ruling: Neil Siegel says the mandate is within the scope of the commerce power. […]
The Long View On Long Term Care, California Style
People in the Golden State who are approaching their golden years do so with trepidation, according to a new survey. Sixty-six percent of California voters over 40 are concerned they won’t be able to afford long-term care and 63 percent are worried about future health care costs. At least another 70 percent are worried about […]
Today’s headlines – August 17, 2011
Good morning! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report about how the timing of the Supreme Court’s health law review is in play — will it happen before or after the 2012 election? The Wall Street Journal: Election Looms In Health-Law Review The Supreme Court is likely to decide by January […]
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, What’s Her Copay Like?
When Rabbi Craig Ezring’s annual health insurance costs soared 38 percent this year to a whopping $18,636, he did more than just complain. He went looking for a young wife. For several years, the Boca Raton, Fla., rabbi had been getting coverage through a small corporation he formed with his wife. When she died four years ago, […]
Today’s Headlines – August 16, 2011
Good morning! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how the influence industry is jockeying for position with the ‘super committee’ as well as details of how Medicaid payments for prescription drugs stack up against those made by Medicare. Politico: Lobbyists Get An Early Jump On The Debt Committee Now that […]
Senior Boom Creates A Demand For Home Health Workers
Experts warn of a shortage of qualified workers especially because of low wages, high turnover and a lack of training.
