Latest KFF Health News Stories
Steelworkers’ Union Negotiates Benefits, Wages Under Looming Contract Deadline
Elsewhere, thousands of Boeing employees must decide whether to opt for a new health insurance option with provider Mercy Health that offers lower premiums and no copays but restricts patients to network doctors.
Medicare Pays Top Dollar For ‘Ultra-High’ Nursing Home Therapy
The Wall Street Journal reports on how patients who get at least 720 minutes of rehab a week generate some of nursing facilities’ biggest payments from Medicare.
HHS Auditor Finds Most Of The Health Law’s Insurance Co-Ops Are Losing Money
The report finds that many of the insurance cooperatives overestimated the number who would enroll. In other news stories, a House Republican renews the call for repealing the health law, an analysis of Wisconsin’s drop in the uninsured and a look at health literacy.
White House Plan Geared Toward Combating Rising Heroin Use By Prioritizing Treatment
The Obama administration plans to unveil the initiative today. Meanwhile, other news outlets take a look at different aspects of the heroin epidemic and the system’s response.
Veterans Wounded By ‘Moral Injury’ Struggle With Guilt And Shame Over War Actions
The concept of moral injury — the psychological scars left by something warriors did or witnessed in conflict — is gaining attention. The symptoms often mirror those of PTSD and many suffering veterans engage in self-torment or are suicidal.
First Edition: August 17, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Revamp Medicare’s 3-Day Hospital Rule; Setting A Fair Price For Specialty Drugs
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Research Roundup: Guardianship Guides For End-Of-Life Decisions; Rudeness In The Hospital
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Health care stories are reported from Massachusetts, New York, California, Connecticut, Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Utah.
States Struggle To Respond To High Volume Of Hep C Cases Connected To Spike In Heroin Use
Meanwhile, a Mass. police department experiments with a new role in attempting to help address the nation’s heroin epidemic while Baltimore’s top health officer went to the city’s Adult Drug Treatment Court and passed out prescriptions for a medication that prevents overdoses.
Report: Ohio’s Medicaid Costs $2B Below Estimates
The report found that Medicaid costs, even with the state’s expansion and increase in eligible beneficiaries, were 7.6 percent less that projected for the fiscal year ending in June. Meanwhile, Georgia’s health care agency has all but rejected Grady Health System’s proposed waiver to cover more uninsured people. News outlets in Kansas, Maine and Iowa also report on Medicaid-related developments.
Rising Drug Costs Emerge As Major Hurdle For Defense Authorization Bill
In other news, a study finds that the costs the Pentagon would absorb by allowing transgender people to serve in the military and providing them specialized medical care would be relatively minimal.
Mass. Consumers Struggle To Get Info On The Varying Prices For Health Care Services
Massachusetts’ consumers say it isn’t easy to find out what a procedure will cost ahead of time, even though the state has a law requiring that information be available. face challenges in determining medical services pricing, Kaiser Health News also reports on how some business leaders and lawmakers want to reexamine the out-of-pocket spending limits for families set by the health law.
Medicaid Expansion Is Key Issue Among GOP Governors Vying For Presidential Nomination
Wis. Gov. Scott Walker used this issue to draw a clear line to separate himself from Ohio Gov. John Kasich and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. Other talk among the GOP presidential hopefuls has to do with childhood vaccinations, fetal tissue research ethics, and Planned Parenthood and race.
Nearly 1 Million People Signed Up For Obamacare After Open Enrollment Closed
About 950,000 people enrolled in health law insurance coverage beyond the official enrollment period — between Feb. 23 and June 30 — because they experienced life changes such as losing their job-based insurance or having a baby that made them newly eligible.
First Edition: August 14, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Fetal Tissue’s Importance; Getting Sen. Kirk’s Health Plan; Revamping Medicare
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Longer Looks: Caring For Elders; The Transportation Barrier; Meeting John Kasich
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Health care stories are reported from Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut, Minnesota, Maryland, Kansas, New York and California.
Judge Sanctions Idaho For Manipulating Prison Health Care Files
The federal judge’s ruling was a response to court findings that said prison system employees misled the court and manipulated files. Meanwhile, news outlets report on prison health care-related stories from Florida and California.
