Who Doesn’t Text in 2022? Most State Medicaid Programs
By Phil Galewitz
April 13, 2022
KFF Health News Original
As states prepare for the end of the covid public health emergency, they are making plans to reevaluate each Medicaid enrollee’s eligibility. They will rely primarily on mail and email because not many states can text enrollees.
Mientras el país se acerca a un millón de muertes por covid, un condado enfrenta terribles pérdidas
By Phil Galewitz
April 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
En Pennsylvania, el condado de Mifflin, mayormente anti vacunas, está procesando un duelo por fuera de las estadísticas: 337 muertes por covid. De estas personas, 311 no habían recibido ninguna dosis.
As US Nears 1 Million Covid Deaths, One Hard-Hit County Grapples With Unthinkable Loss
By Phil Galewitz
April 1, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The United States is nearing 1 million deaths from covid — an almost incomprehensible number of lives lost that few thought possible when the pandemic began. Pennsylvania’s Mifflin County offers a snapshot into how one hard-hit community, with over 300 dead, is coping.
Senators Ask GAO to Examine Medicaid’s Low Covid Vaccination Rates
By Phil Galewitz
March 25, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Sens. Robert Casey Jr. and Ron Wyden want a probe into what barriers are keeping Medicaid plans from reaching enrollees.
Medicare Advantage Plans Send Pals to Seniors’ Homes for Companionship — And Profits
By Phil Galewitz
March 15, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Many Medicare Advantage plans send caregivers to the homes of seniors periodically to help with housework and provide companionship. But the workers may also prod seniors into activities that boost the plans’ Medicare ratings and federal reimbursements.
Medicare’s Push To Improve Chronic Care Attracts Businesses, but Not Many Doctors
By Phil Galewitz and Holly K. Hacker
April 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Most Medicare enrollees have two or more chronic health conditions, making them eligible for a federal program that rewards physicians for doing more to manage their care. It shows promise in reducing costs. But not many doctors have joined.
Covid and Medicare Payments Spark Remote Patient Monitoring Boom
By Phil Galewitz and Holly K. Hacker
March 18, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Demand for help monitoring patients’ vital signs remotely has taken off since a Medicare change in 2019. Dozens of companies now push the service to help overburdened primary care doctors — and as a revenue stream. But some policy experts say its growth has outpaced oversight and evidence of effectiveness.
In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength
By Phil Galewitz and Colleen DeGuzman
February 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Medicare pays hospitals about double what it pays other providers for the same services. The hospital lobby is fighting hard to make sure a switch to “site-neutral payments” doesn’t become law.
From Alabama to Utah, Efforts to Vaccinate Medicaid Enrollees Against Covid Run Into Obstacles
By Phil Galewitz
February 28, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Inoculation rates remain low despite massive outreach efforts and incentives from federal and state programs and Medicaid plan operators, leaving many low-income people vulnerable to the virus.
“Peor de lo que la gente cree”, cambios en Medicaid crean caos en los estados
By Phil Galewitz and Katheryn Houghton and Brett Kelman and Samantha Liss
November 2, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Tanto beneficiarios como defensores de pacientes dicen que los funcionarios de Medicaid enviaron formularios de renovación obligatoria a direcciones viejas, calcularon mal los niveles de ingresos e hicieron malas traducciones de los documentos.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': To End School Shootings, Activists Consider a New Culprit: Parents
February 8, 2024
Podcast
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent of a school shooter of charges related to the child’s crime, finding a mother in Michigan guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly opening a new legal avenue for gun control advocates. Meanwhile, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, a medical publisher has retracted some of the journal studies that lower-court judges relied on in their decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Oh, Oh, Omicron
December 16, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Even before the omicron variant of covid starts to spread widely in the U.S., hospitals are filling up with post-holiday delta cases. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court signals — loudly — that 2022 will be the year it rolls back abortion rights in a big way. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
South Dakota Voters to Decide Medicaid Expansion
By Phil Galewitz
January 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Despite state Republican leaders’ rigid opposition to expanding the health program designed for low-income residents, advocates successfully gathered enough signatures to get the measure on the fall ballot.
Cómo el optimismo puede cerrar la brecha de cobertura de Medicaid
By Phil Galewitz and Daniel Chang
November 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Más de 2 millones de personas de bajos ingresos, la mitad de ellos en Florida y Texas, no tienen seguro porque están atrapados en una brecha de cobertura. Y sus estados no han expandido Medicaid.
How Optimism Can Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap
By Phil Galewitz and Daniel Chang
November 16, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Low-income residents in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid are in a tough spot: They don’t qualify for the subsidies that people with slightly higher incomes get to buy marketplace plans because of a glitch in the federal health law. But a court decision last year makes it easier for them to make good-faith estimates of a pay increase, and there is no financial penalty if they don’t hit that figure.
West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats’ Plan for Seniors’ Dental Care
By Phil Galewitz
December 10, 2021
KFF Health News Original
In West Virginia, older residents often go without dental care, and a quarter of people 65 and older have no natural teeth, the highest rate of any state in the country. But a powerful senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has rebuffed efforts to add a dental benefit to Medicare.
Health Experts Worry CDC’s Covid Vaccination Rates Appear Inflated
By Phil Galewitz
December 9, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Accuracy issues raise red flags because the data is used to plan and direct resources in the nation’s continuing response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott Off Base in Claim That Rise in Medicare Premiums Is Due to Inflation
By Phil Galewitz
November 24, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The Republican senator says President Joe Biden’s “inflation crisis” caused Medicare to raise monthly premiums, which will add hundreds of dollars to beneficiaries’ costs. But Medicare experts say inflation was not to blame and most beneficiaries will shoulder a much smaller increase than what Rick Scott claims.
Journalists Broach Topics From Vaccines and Super Bowl to True Love
February 12, 2021
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Much Ado About Drug Prices
September 16, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Democrats have hit a snag in their effort to compile a $3.5 trillion social-spending bill this fall — moderates are resisting support for Medicare drug price negotiation provisions that would pay for many of the measure’s health benefit improvements. Meanwhile, the new abortion restrictions in Texas have moved the divisive issue back to the political front burner. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interview’s KHN’s Phil Galewitz about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment, about two similar jaw surgeries with very different price tags.