Big Investments For ACA Innovation Lab, But Most Results Still Pending
Some 2.5 million patients are involved in federally funded tests to control costs and reduce injuries, but data on most programs still aren’t available.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
9,501 - 9,520 of 15,457 Results
Some 2.5 million patients are involved in federally funded tests to control costs and reduce injuries, but data on most programs still aren’t available.
In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off. Sarah Varney of Kaiser Health News reports on financial gains made by some hospitals as more patients are able to pay their bills, and the heavy price being paid by hospitals in states that opted against expansion.
More than 6 million Americans are already signed up for Obamacare policies for 2015.
The health law offered a two-year pay raise for primary care doctors who see Medicaid patients to entice them to participate, but that expires Dec. 31.
KHN’s consumer columnist answers a reader’s question about whether coverage from the health law’s online exchanges is compatible with Medicare and another question on Medicare drug coverage options when seniors move.
Federal officials handle most of the requests in 2014 from beneficiaries seeking a hearing before a judge and cut into the heavy backlog. But cases from hospitals, doctors and other providers are still on hold.
A new study finds that high-risk heart patients in teaching hospitals do better during the times that cardiologists gather for national conventions.
A California woman had a bad experience with the state’s insurance exchange the first time around and struggled with whether to re-enroll her family.
In 2015, some seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will be allowed to switch if they lose their doctors.
Medicare is reducing payments to 721 hospitals with high rates of infections or other medical complications. About 1,400 hospitals, including all in Maryland, are excluded from the program and Medicare did not assess their rates of patient harm.
Medicare is penalizing 721 hospitals with high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes that can harm patients, known as "hospital-acquired conditions." Penalized hospitals will have their Medicare payments reduced by 1 percent over the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015. To determine penalties, Medicare evaluated three types of HACs. One is central-line associated bloodstream infections, or CLABSIs. The second is catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTIs. The final one, Serious Complications, is based on eight types of injuries, including blood clots, bed sores and falls. Here are the hospitals that are being penalized:
Smart shoppers will dig deep to find out if their family coverage has one deductible for the whole family or separate “embedded” deductibles for each family member. The answer could make a big difference in your out-of-pocket costs.
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
A 50-state analysis details incidence rates of mental illness and access to care across the country.
Sixty percent of people generally favor requiring large firms to provide insurance or pay a fine. But support falls when people are told businesses could cut back workers’ hours and it increases when they learn that most businesses already provide coverage.
Evidence shows hospice care can extend life and save money, but only if patients and doctors dare ask for the help. One New Yorker said hospice gave her back a normal life — at peace, pain subdued.
The research, which cost $1.3 billion so far, was supposed to follow 100,000 children from birth to age 21 to track biological and environmental effects.
© 2026 KFF