Rite Aid Spends $2B To Acquire Pharmacy Benefits Manager
February 12, 2015
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, WellCare earnings report indicates that the severe flu season has taken its toll on profits.
Readers Ask About Contraceptive Coverage And Medicare Enrollment
By Michelle Andrews
July 15, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Kaiser Health News’ consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers these questions.
Obamacare Creates Boom For Federal Contractors
By Jay Hancock
December 8, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Surging contracts related to the Affordable Care Act have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services a fount of revenue for private business.
Report: Medicaid Expansion Will Bring Kentucky A Seven-Year, $1B Windfall
February 13, 2015
Morning Briefing
The state’s Democratic governor released the report by Deloitte Consulting and the University of Louisville’s Urban Studies Institute, which projects the expansion brings the state a net gain, including 40,000 new jobs through 2021. News outlets from Vermont, Ohio and Texas also track debates related to expansion.
State Highlights: Blue Shield Of Calif. Spent $1.25B On Care 1st Deal; States Expand Access To Opioid Rescue Drug
March 25, 2015
Morning Briefing
A selection of health policy stories from California, Texas, Minnesota, Connecticut, Louisiana, Ohio, Washington and North Carolina.
High Court Rules Anti-Abortion Group Can Sue Over Election ‘Truth-Telling’ Law
By Julie Rovner
June 16, 2014
KFF Health News Original
A group challenging an Ohio election law that makes it a crime to make “false statements” about a candidate’s record during a campaign has standing to challenge the constitutionality of that law, according to today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, did NOT strike down Ohio’s false statement law. But […]
L.A. County Officials Allegedly Reduced Penalties In 3 Nursing Home Deaths
By Anna Gorman
October 27, 2014
KFF Health News Original
The cases appear to flesh out an auditor’s finding in August that citations recommended by inspectors were downgraded without explanation.
States Prepare No ‘Plan B’ Ahead Of High Court Subsidy Ruling
January 16, 2015
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, California rejects UnitedHealth’s bid to sell exchange policies statewide and an estimated 76,000 Kansans sign up for health law policies.
Hospitals See $46B In Unpaid Bills Before Health Law’s Insurance Expansions
January 26, 2015
Morning Briefing
The data comes from a 2013 survey by the American Hospital Association. Other stories look at how hospitals are faring under the law’s new incentive programs to boost quality and at the vice president’s call for renewed focus on patient safety.
Wrestling With A Texas County’s Mental Health System
By Jenny Gold
August 20, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Strong leadership and common-sense budgeting created a model mental health care system in San Antonio.
You’re Being Observed In The Hospital? Patients With Private Insurance Better Off Than Seniors
By Susan Jaffe
September 11, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Among the most significant difference is that patient with their own insurance don’t face the same danger of losing nursing home coverage.
HHS Official: Healthcare.gov Updates Will Be ‘Improvement But Not Perfection’
September 10, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Testifying before a House subcommittee, a key Obama administration official lays out the updates that HHS is making to the online marketplaces before enrollment begins in November. Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss.
Must A Divorced Dad Cover Adult Kids; Will Medicare Pay For Infusion Therapy
By Michelle Andrews
August 12, 2014
KFF Health News Original
KHN’s consumer columnist Michelle Andrews explores a divorced mother’s efforts to get her ex-husband to keep their sons on his plan, one senior’s problems getting Medicare to cover his antibiotic infusion at home and what earnings one reader will have to count when applying for premium subsidies.
Actavis To Acquire Allergan — Purchase Price: $66B
November 18, 2014
Morning Briefing
By inking what’s being described as one of the year’s biggest deals, Actavis will be — based on sales — one of the world’s largest drug makers.
Some States Bristle At Lack Of Authority Over Medicare Advantage Plans
By Fred Schulte, The Center For Public Integrity
August 19, 2014
KFF Health News Original
When Congress created the option for beneficiaries to join the private Medicare Advantage plans, it gave oversight to federal officials, preempting state insurance laws and procedures.
Consumers Get $10B In Subsidies For Health Coverage, Study Finds
By Jenny Gold
March 27, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Americans have already qualified for about $10 billion in tax credits to help them purchase private health insurance this year through the Affordable Care Act, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) That’s an average of $2,890 for each of the 3.5 million people […]
Some Colorado Doctors May Be Overcharging Medicare For Routine Visits
By Eric Whitney
May 22, 2014
KFF Health News Original
An analysis of newly available data may reveal fraud. But experts caution that the raw data alone could also make physicians who are doing nothing wrong look bad.
Chemo Costs In U.S. Driven Higher By Shift To Hospital Outpatient Facilities
By Roni Caryn Rabin
May 6, 2014
KFF Health News Original
The price of cancer drugs has doubled in the past decade, with the average brand-name cancer drug in the U.S. costing $10,000 for a month’s supply, up from $5,000 in 2003, according to a new report by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a health information, services and technology company. And those are just average prices; […]
Teresa Martinez: Waiting For Medi-Cal
By Heidi de Marco
April 21, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Teresa Martinez, 62, from East Los Angeles makes $10,000 a year working as a hairdresser in a Koreatown salon. With her modest income she is likely to be eligible for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act’s Medi-Cal expansion.
California Doctors Among Those Charging Medicare The Most For Office Visits
By Lisa Pickoff-White and Lisa Aliferis and April Dembosky
May 21, 2014
KFF Health News Original
Billing data show that some doctors charge the government much more than their peers in the same specialty by deeming almost all office visits “complex.”