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Medicare Advantage Premiums Falling 4% In 2012

By Phil Galewitz September 15, 2011 KFF Health News Original

For some Medicare beneficiaries, the good times seem to keep rolling along. For seniors enrolled in private Medicare plans, premiums will drop by an average of 4 percent in 2012 while benefits remain stable, Obama administration officials said today. Last year CMS projected an average 1 percent drop in 2011 premiums, but the actual drop was 7 […]

Recount: Census Changes How It Estimates The Uninsured

By Phil Galewitz September 13, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Oops. Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were 50.7 million uninsured Americans in 2009. Today, it revised the figure for 2009 down to 49 million after adjusting the way it counts. What gives? For years, researchers have complained that the Census Bureau overestimates the number of uninsured because of the way it accounts […]

Berwick Turns 65: Medicare Chief First To Join Medicare

By Phil Galewitz September 8, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Friday is a big day for Medicare chief Donald Berwick. He turns 65 and will become the first head of the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled to be a beneficiary at the same time. “I’m excited,” he told KHN in a pre-birthday interview Thursday. “I feel like I’m in my 20s […]

Seeking The Best Place For Long-Term Care? Head North

By Phil Galewitz September 8, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Updated at 1:00 p.m. If you think there’s a demand now for long-term care services, just wait 20 years. By the time baby boomers hit their 70s and 80s, there will be a huge surge in need. And, according to a report released today, in many places there isn’t nearly enough to help to go around. The […]

Seniors Falling Into Doughnut Hole Buy Fewer Drugs

By Phil Galewitz September 7, 2011 KFF Health News Original

About 12 percent of people receiving the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2009 fell into the gap in coverage — the much maligned “doughnut hole” — according to a study released today. While in the doughnut hole beneficiaries bought fewer drugs, including about 11 percent fewer monthly prescriptions in 2009, compared to when they’re still getting prescriptions […]

Deficit Hawk Or Dove? Enzi’s Autism Stance

By Phil Galewitz September 7, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., has been among the more outspoken members of Congress calling for major reductions in federal spending to reduce the budget deficit. But on Wednesday, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee meeting,  he was part of a unanimous vote for nearly $700 million in funding for autism research and treatment. In […]

List Of Potential Medicare And Medicaid Cuts Stirs Washington

By Mary Agnes Carey July 12, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Washington is abuzz about a spreadsheet that was leaked this morning outlining potential Medicare and Medicaid savings that could end up in a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling. The summary is an outline of areas that House and Senate negotiators discussed during debt ceiling negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden, House Majority Leader […]

Medicare Is Taking A Page From Priceline

By Phil Galewitz August 23, 2011 KFF Health News Original

The Obama administration is offering a new pricing strategy for doctors and hospitals looking to improve care and lower costs of treating Medicare beneficiaries. It could be called “Name Your Own Price” — except that’s already taken by a certain online travel website that has a certain Star Trek actor as its pitchman. But the principle […]

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, What’s Her Copay Like?

By Phil Galewitz August 16, 2011 KFF Health News Original

When Rabbi Craig Ezring’s annual health insurance costs soared 38 percent this year to a whopping $18,636, he did more than just complain. He went looking for a young wife. For several years, the Boca Raton, Fla., rabbi had been getting coverage through a small corporation he formed with his wife. When she died four years ago, […]

New Money And New Rules For The Exchanges

By Phil Galewitz August 12, 2011 KFF Health News Original

The Obama administration on Friday allotted $185 million to 13 states and the District of Columbia to help build new insurance exchanges and issued rules on how the new marketplaces will enroll individuals, provide subsidies to low- and middle-class Americans and interact with state Medicaid programs. These grants, which will cover a variety of expenses […]

ER Use Of CT Scans Rises Sharply, Raising Questions About Costs And Benefits

By Phil Galewitz August 10, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Emergency department patients are getting CT scans at rates five times higher than in the mid-1990s, a new study finds, raising questions about whether the test is being overused and driving up health costs or helping to lower costs by reducing hospitalizations. About 14 percent of ER patients received a scan in 2007, compared to […]

Newly Insured In Mass. Continue To Use Community Health Centers

By Phil Galewitz August 8, 2011 KFF Health News Original

Community health centers in Massachusetts saw a surge in patients after the state expanded health insurance coverage, indicating that the safety-net clinics remain a vital source of care even when people gain insurance, according to a study released today. The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine,  found that the number of patients treated […]

HHS: Millions Of Seniors Taking Advantage Of The Health Law

By Phil Galewitz August 4, 2011 KFF Health News Original

The number of Medicare beneficiaries being helped by the 2010 health care overhaul continues to pile up, Obama administration boasted today. Polls have shown seniors, who are an important voting bloc, to be more skeptical of the law than other age groups. Administration officials have sought to allay those concerns and to draw attention to new […]