Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obama Pays Visit To Troubled VA Hospital
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Arizona veterans hospital which triggered national scrutiny of the VA health care system. On the eve of that visit, VA Secretary Robert McDonald says it will take time and leadership to reform the massive system.
Despite Cost, Congressional Momentum Building For Medicare ‘Doc Fix’
The price tag of a deal to permanently address scheduled Medicare physician pay reductions would be an estimated $174 billion. Action is necessary before March 31 in order to stop the next round of cuts from taking effect.
Medicaid Among Targets In Senate GOP Budget Slated For Release Next Week
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Republican budget blueprint would propose turning funding for Medicaid into a block grant. This idea is not a new one and has been met with Democratic opposition in the past. Meanwhile, Politico notes how GOP plans are taking shape — including those strategies that could impact the health law — regarding the parliamentary maneuvers surrounding the budget.
GOP Lawmakers In Alaska, Missouri Reject Efforts To Expand Medicaid
Efforts came as lawmakers in both states’ legislatures worked on the budget. In other news, members of Congress seek to increase Medicaid payments to doctors, an issue that is also raising concerns in Ohio.
Ky. Gov. Points To Exchange, Medicaid Expansion As Obamacare Model
Meanwhile, news outlets report on the continuing challenges involved in efforts to enroll minority populations in new health law coverage, as well as other health exchange news from Minnesota, California, Massachusetts and Oregon.
House Democrats, Advocates Press To Let Pregnant Women Enroll Anytime
More than 50 Democrats in the House and 30 national health advocacy groups sent letters to the administration urging a change that would offer a special enrollment period to uninsured women who become pregnant. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court challenge to federal exchange subsidies could reduce the number of insurers expanding into new markets next year.
Report: Raising Tobacco-Purchase Age Would Avert Thousands Of Deaths
The Institute of Medicine report finds that upping the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 would likely prevent as many as a quarter of a million premature deaths. Taking this step would deprive the tobacco industry of as much as 2 percent of sales.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Save CHIP; Playing ‘Chicken’ With Health Law; Opioid Epidemic
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Longer Looks: Data At Hospitals; Autopsies; Disrupting Health Care
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
A selection of health policy stories from Connecticut, Oregon, California, Kansas, Wyoming, North Carolina, Maryland, Texas, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
Iowa Supreme Court Hears Abortion Case
The case, which centers on whether state regulators were trying to protect patient safety when they ordered limits on a telemedicine abortion system, could have implications for telehealth and state boards of medicine.
Health Spending Picks Up Speed, Breaks Recent Pattern Of Slow Growth
Data released by the Census Bureau indicates that 2014 spending on hospitals, doctors and other health care providers appears to have surpassed the rates of the past five years.
GOP Leaders Mull Parliamentary Tactic If High Court Does Not Strike Federal Health Subsidies
In other Capitol Hill action, some lawmakers are contemplating legislation that would restrict overall drug costs to patients or target such controls to specialty medications in an effort to keep their costs more in line with other drugs.
Congressional Leaders Explore Long-Term Fix To Medicare Physician Payments
As the next round of cuts — a 21 percent reduction — are scheduled to kick in April 1, bipartisan efforts are underway to negotiate a compromise that would permanently revamp this Medicare trouble spot.
Washington State Exchange Confronts Funding Shortfall
News outlets in Minnesota and Colorado also report on other developments regarding the health law’s online state insurance marketplaces.
The Clock May Run Out On Utah Medicaid Expansion Compromise
News outlets report that a deal for Health Utah may be in the works but there may not be enough time before the legislative session ends at midnight Thursday to complete negotiations between the House, Senate and Gov. Gary Herbert’s office.
King V. Burwell Raises Concerns For GOP Governors, Triggers A Fact Check
News outlets analyze the possible fallout of this case now being considered by the Supreme Court.
KHN First Edition: March 12, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: CBO’s Missing Numbers; Parents’ Beliefs And Kids’ Health; Rape Kit Backlogs
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
