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Most Doctors Still Waiting On Medicaid Pay Raise

By Phil Galewitz May 14, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Five months after primary care doctors who treat Medicaid patients were supposed get a big pay raise, most physicians have yet to see it. Only three states have implemented the pay raise — Nevada, Michigan and Massachusetts, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. The two-year pay hike is intended to entice more doctors to treat […]

CMS Won’t Penalize Hospitals In States Slow To Expand Medicaid

By Phil Galewitz May 14, 2013 KFF Health News Original

That sigh of relief you heard Monday was from hospital administrators in nearly two dozen states, including Florida and Texas. That’s because the Obama administration announced that for the next two years, it doesn’t plan to penalize states that have yet to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal health law by targeting them for reduced Medicaid funding, according […]

Wait For Obamacare Price Tags Could Be Months

By Jay Hancock April 12, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Last week Vermont became the first state to provide a glimpse of how expensive individual health insurance might be under the Affordable Care Act. Proposed rates there, while of questionable relevance to the rest of the country because of the state’s unusual insurance market, showed little change from current prices and reassured health law supporters […]

Competition Spurs 2 Oregon Insurers To Lower Proposed Rates

By Phil Galewitz May 10, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Maybe competition among health insurance plans can lead to lower rates. As soon as Oregon this week became the fourth state to publicly list health insurers’ proposed 2014 rates for individual and small group coverage, two plans moved to cut their suggested prices, the Oregonian reported Friday. Providence Health Plan and Family Care Health Plans […]

Four States That Snubbed Health Law Gaining Jobs From It

By Phil Galewitz May 10, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Four states that have snubbed the federal health law by defaulting to the federal government to build new online insurance marketplaces and not agreeing to expand Medicaid are getting new jobs at call centers that will help consumers understand their new coverage options this fall. Up to 9,000 jobs are expected to be created at call centers to support […]

Call Centers For Health Law Marketplaces To Create 9K Jobs

By Phil Galewitz May 3, 2013 KFF Health News Original

The federal health law derided as a “job-killer” by critics will create an estimated 9,000 jobs in 14 states this summer to handle consumer inquiries about new online insurance marketplaces. The jobs are through Vangent, a General Dynamics subsidiary, which was awarded a $530 million one-year contract by the federal government to set up call centers to […]

States Spend $28M, Then Leave Exchanges To The Feds

By Phil Galewitz April 24, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Late last year, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced that her state would not build its own online insurance marketplace, a pillar of the Affordable Care Act, because there were too many unknowns. What Brewer didn’t say was that her state had spent $9 million in federal money to reach that conclusion. Arizona was one of 10 […]

Vangent Gets $28 Million Contract For Health Marketplace Call Center

By Phil Galewitz April 26, 2013 KFF Health News Original

The federal government has awarded a $28.2 million contract to a General Dynamics subsidiary to run a call center to handle consumer questions about the new online insurance marketplaces that are slated to begin selling insurance policies Oct. 1. The call center will be responsible for all inquiries related to the insurance marketplaces in at least […]

Hospitals In 5 States Clamp Down On Delivering Babies Before 39 Weeks

By Phil Galewitz April 8, 2013 KFF Health News Original

When hospitals commit to stopping the delivery of babies before 39 weeks gestation unless there is medical cause to do so, they can dramatically lower rates that can put babies at increased risk for serious health problems. A study published Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology showed a group of 25 hospitals in five states were able to cut their […]

GOP Members Call For Increased Spending To Cover Pre-Existing Conditions

By Phil Galewitz April 3, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Republicans who have spent the past three years blasting the health care overhaul as an overreach by the federal government said Wednesday the law didn’t allocate nearly enough money for a temporary program offering insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. Citing financial concerns, the Obama administration last month stopped enrolling new people into the Pre-existing Condition Insurance […]

No Rate Shock Seen In Proposed 2014 Premiums In Vermont

By Phil Galewitz April 1, 2013 KFF Health News Original

After years of anticipation, Vermont became the first state Monday to publish proposed 2014 individual health insurance rates under the federal health law. Despite Republican and insurers’ predictions, there was no “rate shock” in the new premiums, according to the Vermont governor’s office and insurance representatives. That state may not be the best barometer of the impact […]