Latest KFF Health News Stories
A Hospital ER Charges An ‘After-Hours’ Fee. Who Has To Pay It?
Tacking on an after-hours surcharge to an emergency department bill strikes some consumers as unfair, since the facilities are open 24 hours a day.
Consumers Brace For Premium Hikes While Lawmakers Grasp At Remedies
Health insurers’ initial premium requests indicate stiff price hikes for consumers, just as bipartisan talks in Congress fall flat.
Postcard From D.C.: Kicking Around The ACA? For Tom Price, That’s So 2017.
The former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services says the law eliminating penalties for most people who don’t have insurance coverage will hurt the insurance marketplaces.
Cuatro nuevas razones para evitar la multa por no tener seguro de salud
Nuevas reglas permitirán pedir exenciones al requisito de pagar una multa por no tener coebrtura de salud, en base al lugar de residencia y a la opinión sobre el aborto.
4 New Ways You Can Avoid Fines For Not Having Health Insurance
Among changes by the Trump administration, new rules protect consumers living in areas with only one marketplace plan as well as those who oppose abortion and can’t find a plan that doesn’t cover the procedure.
Don’t Get Tripped Up By The IRS Tweak To Health Savings Accounts
A new federal calculation reduces by $50 the amount a family can put aside in 2018 in these accounts to pay medical bills. Anyone who has already funded the account at a higher level will need to adjust or deal with the tax consequences next year.
¡Cuidado! La multa por no tener seguro que impuso el Obamacare todavía está vigente
Si bien la administración Trump derogó la multa por no tener seguro de salud que impuso la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible, esta norma entrará en vigencia en 2019.
Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead
When President Donald Trump signed the nation’s new tax law, he also killed the Affordable Care Act’s tax penalty — but not until 2019. Despite widespread confusion, experts caution that consumers still need to pay the tax penalty if they were uninsured last year or will be this year.
Refusing To Work For Medicaid May Not Translate To Subsidies For ACA Plan
In states that are instituting work requirements for Medicaid coverage, refusing to get a job will not likely make you eligible for subsidies to buy a marketplace plan.
In Battleground Races, Health Care Lags As Hot-Button Issue, Poll Finds
The economy and jobs tend to eclipse health care as the top voter concern in competitive congressional and gubernatorial races.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ CHIP (Finally) Gets Funded
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post discuss the short-term spending bill passed by Congress that reopened the federal government and funded the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years. The panelists also discussed the health programs still awaiting funding, and the intersection of religion and women’s health services at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Farewell, Individual Mandate
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss health issues in the emerging tax bill, including the likely repeal of fines for those who fail to obtain health insurance. They also talk about the end of “open enrollment” for 2018 individual health insurance coverage.
Sen. Collins’ Strategy To Stabilize Insurance Market Raises Doubts Among Analysts
Even if the Republican from Maine can get her party to go along, her suggestions to bolster the individual insurance market may be too little, too late.
Congress Isn’t Really Done With Health Care — Just Look At What’s In The Tax Bills
Even though congressional Republicans set aside their Obamacare repeal-and-replace efforts this year, here are five major health policy changes that could become law as part of the pending House and Senate proposals.
Desperate For Coverage: Are Short-Term Plans Better Than None At All?
As stopgap health plans gain attention as possible alternatives to Obamacare, consumers are advised to read the fine print.
Obamacare: confusión abre la puerta a planes de salud “sospechosos”
Los promocionan como una alternativa económica a los planes de ACA. Pero expertos en mercados de seguros dudan sobre el tipo de cobertura que ofrecen.
Marketplace Confusion Opens Door To Questions About Skinny Plans
Regulators are beginning to scrutinize claims by companies that their alternative plans help people meet Obamacare requirements.
House Tax Bill Would Scrap Deduction For Medical Expenses
About 9 million people claimed about $87 billion in medical deductions in 2015.
Proyecto de salud del Senado cambiaría Medicaid y limitaría apoyo para las primas
Los republicanos en el Senado revelaron un proyecto de ley de salud que transformaría dramáticamente el programa Medicaid, que ayuda a 70 millones de personas de bajos ingresos a tener cobertura de salud.
Senate Health Bill Would Revamp Medicaid, Alter ACA Guarantees, Cut Premium Support
Despite promises to craft their own way to revamp the federal health law, the Senate Republican bill follows the House’s lead in many ways.