Latest KFF Health News Stories
Intellectual Backer Of Insurance Mandate Faults Alternatives
While some lawmakers and wonks are busy cooking up alternatives to the controversial federal mandate requiring people to have health insurance starting in 2014, one early backer of the approach insists it remains the best way to get more people covered at the lowest cost.
Text: Republican Governors Ask For Faster Review Of Health Overhaul Lawsuits
On Wednesday, 28 GOP governors sent a letter to President Obama asking him to foster faster review of the health care overhaul lawsuits so the Supreme Court can rule on their constitutionality “as soon as possible.”
Vermont Gov. Proposes Single-Payer Health Plan
Shumlin’s bill would set up state-run insurance coverage, but many details
Female Docs Fall Further Behind On Pay
While more women are choosing medicine as a career, there’s a pretty big gender gap in starting salaries, researchers have found. The explanation used to be that women entered less lucrative specialties, but that’s not the case anymore.
Florida Official Sends Back $1M
Even though Florida faces a big budget hole, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Tuesday the state will forfeit a $1 million federal grant that was supposed to go toward better oversight of health insurance rates.
Video: With State Fiscal Pressures Mounting, Medicaid Battle Looms
As state fiscal pressures mount, governors are asking Washington to allow them to reduce their Medicaid rolls, something that’s barred under the health care law. Democrats generally prefer to give the states more federal money to help with Medicaid costs, but House Republicans are unlikely to support that, citing deficit concerns.
It Will Be Democratic Senators Leading The Charge To Fix Or Improve The New Health Law
A survey of public opinions and the current political landscape suggests it will be those vulnerable Senate Democrats facing election in 2012 who are most likely to push the agenda to improve the health overhaul.
Text: President Obama Makes Health Law Defense At Conference
President Barack Obama Friday morning addressed a group of people gathered at the Families USA Health Action conference and continued his defense of the health law.
House GOP Launch Hearings On Health Law
House Republicans have launched a series of hearings aimed at giving the law the comeuppance they think it deserves.
Fixing The Failure At Physician Compare
The launch of Medicare’s Physician Compare website should have been a watershed event in the long campaign for health care transparency and patient empowerment. But, so far, it hasn’t been.
Video: Republican SOTU Response
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., delivers the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech and vows the GOP will work to replace the health law.
Video: President Obama On Health Law
In President Obama’s State of the Union speech, he signaled a willingness to make some changes to the health law while leaving its main form intact.
Meet Two ‘Ordinary Americans’ Recruited by Obama For State Of The Union
Two people who benefited from the health care law provide State of the Union support.
Just before Christmas, PolitiFact.com gave their Lie of the Year award to the idea that ObamaCare is a “government takeover of health care.” But, according to Michael Cannon, significant evidence suggests this claim is no lie at all.
Fact Check: Questions Mount As Health Law Rolls Out
Even as congressional Republicans are seeking to undo the health law, some of its provisions continue to kick in. NPR answered consumer questions about the impact of law.
Health Law Repeal: The Words Matter
H.R. 2 is not expected to come to a vote in the Senate, so this week’s House debate on repealing the 2010 health care law is likely to be remembered as purely symbolic. With members speaking more to the C-SPAN cameras than to each other, the words they choose take on extra significance. Word clouds highlight the differences in diction.
Repeal And Replace — But Replace With What?
Republicans have yet to embrace specific proposals they would pursue to “replace” the health law — leaving one to ponder the implications of some of the ideas on the table.
A Defense Of High-Risk Insurance Pools — From One Critic To The Others
An ironic partisan tinge has become evident in recent criticisms leveled at the health overhaul’s high-risk insurance pools.
President Obama Promises Health Law Repeal Veto
The Obama Administration issued a letter Thursday saying that the White House opposes repeal of the health overhaul and that Obama would veto it if it reaches his desk.
With A New Congress, It’s High Time For Some Health Overhaul Facts
With the debate over health overhaul back in full force, we examine the claims being thrown around by Republicans and Democrats about the effect of the law and what might happen if it’s repealed.
