States Attacking ACA Would Suffer Most If Preexisting Conditions Shield Gets Axed
Harriet Blair Rowan
A coalition of Republican states has launched a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, including provisions requiring insurers to offer coverage to people with preexisting conditions without raising rates. An analysis shows that some of these states have the highest proportion of such residents.
California’s ACA Rates To Rise 8.7% Next Year
Chad Terhune and Pauline Bartolone
The average increase in California is smaller than the double-digit hikes expected around the nation, due largely to a healthier mix of enrollees and more competition in its marketplace. Still, health insurance prices keep growing faster than wages and general inflation.
Staggering Prices Slow Insurers’ Coverage Of CAR-T Cancer Therapy
Michelle Andrews
Some state Medicaid programs are not paying for the procedures, and Medicare’s complicated payment rates have hospitals concerned that it will not cover all the costs.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Drug Prices And Unicorns
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico, and Erin Mershon of Stat News discuss a series of health policy court decisions on everything from prescription drug discounts to soda taxes. Plus, Rovner, interviews health care futurist and consultant Jeff Goldsmith.
Long Waits To See Doctors In Puerto Rico, Where Medical Needs Are Great Post-Maria
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney reports on how the island’s mounting physician shortage is making it even more difficult to get care.
Hurricane Maria Still Taking A Toll On Puerto Rico’s Seniors
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney reports on the challenges of providing health care to older people on the island.
From Crib To Court: Trump Administration Summons Immigrant Infants
Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra
At least 70 infants have been ordered to appear in immigration court. Experts believe some were separated from their parents.
California Clinic Screens Asylum Seekers For Honesty
Anna Gorman and Heidi de Marco
As new federal policies make it harder to gain asylum in the U.S., foreign applicants try to improve their chances by having doctors evaluate their conditions — perhaps bolstering their stories of torture and violent persecution back home.
Children With Disabilities Endure Long Waits For Life-Changing Medical Equipment
Jocelyn Wiener
Some California children with serious health care problems wait more than a year for wheelchairs, bath benches, commodes, specialized crutches and other crucial medical equipment. Critics blame the delays on a confusing bureaucratic maze of private insurers and public programs.
In Florida, Midterm Elections Hold Faint Hope For Medicaid Expansion
Phil Galewitz
Republicans’ overwhelming majorities in the state legislature make pursuing a policy that could benefit 660,000 uninsured adults a “long shot,” political analysts say.