Without ACA Guarantees, 52 Million Adults Could Have Trouble Buying Individual Plans
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
December 13, 2016
KFF Health News Original
More than a quarter of adults under the age of 65 have health problems that could lead to a denial of insurance if they were on the individual market and the health law’s protections were revoked under the overhaul planned by Republicans, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Physicians, Teaching Hospitals Received More Than $8B From Drug And Device Makers In 2016
July 6, 2017
Morning Briefing
About half of the overall payments were for research and $2.7 billion were in payments not related to research.
Skeptics Question The Value Of Hydration Therapy For The Healthy
By Taunya English, WHYY
October 24, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Some spa-like clinics will inject an expensive mix of water and vitamins into your bloodstream, ostensibly to ward off illness and boost energy. But can’t drinking fluids offer the same benefit?
CMS Identifies Hospitals Paid Nearly $1.5B In 2015 Medicare Billing Settlement
By Phil Galewitz
August 23, 2016
KFF Health News Original
A year after settling billing disputes with 2,022 hospitals for 68 cents on the dollar, the government has revealed who got paid and how much.
Taxpayers Foot 70 Percent Of California’s Health Care Tab, Study Finds
By Ana B. Ibarra
September 1, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The public spending on health care outpaces the nation.
$2B Included To Fight Opioid Epidemic Far Short Of The Funding Some Republicans Were Seeking
June 23, 2017
Morning Briefing
Republican senators in states that have been hit hard by the crisis were seeking $45 billion over 10 years.
Sky-High Prices For Orphan Drugs Slam American Families And Insurers
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Sydney Lupkin
Photos by Heidi de Marco
January 17, 2017
KFF Health News Original
Orphan drugs for rare diseases have helped or saved hundreds of thousands of patients like 2-year-old Luke Whitbeck, but families and insurers are picking up the astronomical cost.
Price Tag For Universal Health Care In California Would Run $400B
May 23, 2017
Morning Briefing
A state Senate panel considering the measure says that money for existing public programs could cover half the cost of a single-payer system to cover all 39 million Californians. But the rest might have to come from new taxes — a serious political obstacle.
California Lawmaker Pulls Plug On Drug Price Transparency Bill
By Ana B. Ibarra
August 17, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The legislation would have required drug companies to notify the state and insurers about expensive new treatments or price hikes.
Va. Says It Will Lose $1.4B In Senate’s Medicaid Plan; Iowa Nursing Homes Also Raise Alarms
June 27, 2017
Morning Briefing
Around the country, Medicaid stakeholders are speaking out about how a reduction in federal funding for Medicaid under the Senate plan would play out in the states.
Medicare Pays For A Kidney Transplant, But Not The Drugs To Keep It Viable
By Richard Harris, NPR News
December 22, 2016
KFF Health News Original
The federal government pays for kidney transplants. But the program only pays for essential anti-rejection drugs for three years. Many people can’t afford them and can end up losing the kidney.
Trump’s Debate Claim On Health Care Costs: It Depends What You Mean By ‘Cost’
By Julie Rovner
October 10, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Although many consumers are feeling the heat from increased health care spending, the overall bill may not be larger.
NIH To Award $1B To Young Researchers After Dropping Plan To Cap Support To Some Labs
June 9, 2017
Morning Briefing
The controversial proposal to limit the size of federal grants to individual labs raised concerns among senior scientists, so National Institutes of Health offered this compromise. Also in the news: a House panel is expected to again take up its investigation of a lab problem two years ago.
More Prisoners Die Of Old Age Behind Bars
By Melissa Bailey
December 15, 2016
KFF Health News Original
New data show 4,980 inmate deaths in 2014, the most since counting began in 2001.
Sticker Shock Forces Thousands Of Cancer Patients To Skip Drugs, Skimp On Treatment
By Liz Szabo
March 15, 2017
KFF Health News Original
A growing number of patients fail to fill prescriptions because the cost of cancer drugs is too high.
Flickers Of Bipartisanship May Light Way For Plan B In Senate If GOP Legislation Fails
May 15, 2017
Morning Briefing
There are signs that moderates are reaching across the aisle to talk about health care. Meanwhile, a controversial provision in the Republican legislation was predicted to die in the upper chamber, but now experts aren’t so sure. And The Washington Post fact checks claims about rising premiums — under both Obamacare and the Republican bill.
Surgeon General Murthy Wants America To Face Up To Addiction
By NPR Staff
November 17, 2016
KFF Health News Original
More people struggle with alcohol or drugs than have cancer, and 1 in 5 Americans binge drink. It all costs the nation $420 billion a year. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says we know how to help.
Obama’s Health Care Legacy: A Landmark Becomes A Question Mark
By Sarah Varney
January 10, 2017
KFF Health News Original
President Barack Obama succeeded where many other presidents failed, but now the fate of the Affordable Care Act rests with President-elect Donald Trump.
Terminally Ill Patients Don’t Use Aid-In-Dying Laws To Relieve Pain
By Liz Szabo
October 26, 2016
KFF Health News Original
Ending pain and suffering has helped several states pass “right-to-die” laws, but dying patients are more concerned about controlling how they die and dying with dignity.
House Repeal Plan Would Cut $43B From Medicaid Coverage Of Kids, Analysis Finds
May 19, 2017
Morning Briefing
“Over time, per capita caps could significantly reduce the amount of funding that goes towards Medicaid coverage for children,” says Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere, the consulting firm that conducted the study. Meanwhile, in the Senate, Republican moderates float ideas in order to retain Medicaid expansion that could have other consequences for states.