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Latest KFF Health News Stories

With Special Tax Suspended, Medical Device Firms Reap Big Savings

KFF Health News Original

The medical device industry is enjoying a two-year moratorium on a tax that was created to support the Affordable Care Act. Are firms using their savings to create more jobs, as many claim?

‘Critical Illness’ Insurance Grows As Out-Of-Pocket Health Costs Jump

KFF Health News Original

A relatively obscure category of health insurance — “critical illness” insurance — is catching on because, increasingly, conventional health plans have consumers paying a lot of out-of-pocket costs. Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio explains the pros and cons of critical care insurance in this story that aired on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Gaps Remain Among States’ Medicaid Efforts To Help People Kick Smoking Habit

KFF Health News Original

Even though Medicaid enrollees are more likely to be smokers than the general public, a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs examined state data from 2010 to 2013 and found wide differences in funding of cessation efforts.

Suing A Nursing Home Could Get Easier Under Proposed Federal Rules

KFF Health News Original

Many families must sign a binding arbitration agreement when a loved one is admitted to a nursing home, pledging not to sue if something goes wrong. Proposed rules would ban that requirement.