Latest KFF Health News Stories
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Weekend Reading: Spiritual Bedside Manner; Cancer And The Environment
This week’s articles come from The Atlantic, Slate, The New York Times and American Medical News.
CVS Demands Employees Offer Health Info Or Pay More For Coverage
Chain drugstore CVS is offering employees a choice: Reveal health info, including their weight, or pay as much as $600 more per year for their health insurance.
Hearing Explores Potential Of Health Law’s Medicare Payment Experiments
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, an administration official said the potential of the these efforts to show cost-lowering results would take time.
Minnesota Exchange Legislation Signed Into Law
The measure, termed as “historic” and “controversial” in local media reports, will create the health law’s online insurance marketplace. The next planning and implementation steps will now fall to the state’s executive branch.
Poll: Misunderstanding About The Health Law Persists
A new poll finds that, on its third birthday, many Americans — especially those it was designed to help — still don’t understand much of what it means.
Missouri’s House speaker is calling on their state’s attorney general to appeal a ruling that stops a state law from allowing employers to exclude contraception and abortion from insurance coverage.
State Roundup: Medicaid Causes Budget Headache In Wash. State
A selection of health policy stories from Washington state, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Arizona, California and Colorado.
Senate OKs Bill To Avert Government Shutdown; House GOP Moves Ahead On Budget Plan
The Senate measure, which funds federal operations through the end of September, is expected to gain House approval. However, the Republican’s budget plan for the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, proposes to slash health and safety net programs and underscores the sharp differences between the parties.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including various reports about what the public knows — and doesn’t know — about the health law.
Poll: Americans Still Don’t Understand Health Law
Three years after the passage of the ACA, two-thirds of uninsured Americans say they still don’t know what it means for them.
Turning Three: Progess Reports On Health Overhaul Abound
As the law approaches its third birthday, news outlets examine a variety of issues surrounding its implementation.
Private Insurance Twist On Medicaid Expansion May Make ‘Obamacare’ Palatable To Conservatives
Some GOP state lawmakers who do not favor expanding the health insurance program for the poor appear to be warming to this notion. Meanwhile, media outlets offer related updates from Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi.
Supreme Court Considering Generic Drugmaker Safety Liability
In the meantime, the federal government will not — at least for now — continue to pursue putting graphic images on packs of cigarettes meant to deter people from smoking.
Progress Slows On Spending Bill To Avert Government Shutdown
The Senate’s consideration of the measure, which protects some programs from sequestration cuts, is taking place against the backdrop of Capitol Hill’s broader debate about the deficit.
Lobbyists Update Strategy To Repeal Health Law Medical Device Tax
The New York Times reports that industry lobbyists are courting Democrats. Meanwhile, in other congressional news, two House lawmakers have reintroduced legislation to improve Medicare’s Recovery Audit Program.
New Apps, Social Networks Shaping Doctor Delivery Of Care
Adoption of health information technology is examined as new computer application development and adoption change how doctors deliver care. In Kansas, developers are trying to quicken the pace of doctors adopting new technologies.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
Motivating Food Shoppers To Make Healthy Choices
Researchers at RAND found offering rebates for healthy foods can lead to shifts in diets, which could have public policy implications.
Advocates, Public Consider Medicare Cost Savings As Debate Continues
Medicare costs — and controlling them — are on the minds of the public, patient advocates, lawmakers and doctors as the debate spills off Capitol Hill and into American discourse.
