Watch: Older Americans Say They Feel Stuck in Medicare Advantage Plans
By Sarah Jane Tribble
January 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
You’ve probably seen advertising about Medicare Advantage plans. KFF Health News’ Sarah Jane Tribble explains the pros and cons of this insurance option as enrollment in these plans increases.
After Public Push, CMS Curbs Health Insurance Agents’ Access to Consumer SSNs
By Julie Appleby
April 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Days after publication of a KFF Health News article about Obamacare enrollees being switched to different plans without their knowledge or consent, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took steps to tighten insurance agents’ access to private consumer information on the federal marketplace.
Federal Watchdog Urges Crackdown on Medicare Advantage Home Visits
By Fred Schulte
November 22, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Medicare officials are pushing back against a federal watchdog’s call to crack down on home visits by Medicare Advantage health plans — a practice the watchdog says may waste billions of tax dollars every year. In late October, a Health and Human Services inspector general audit found that the insurers pocketed $7.5 billion in 2023 from diagnosing health conditions that […]
He Had Short-Term Health Insurance. His Colonoscopy Bill: $7,000.
By Julie Appleby
March 28, 2025
KFF Health News Original
After leaving his job to launch his own business, an Illinois man opted for a six-month health insurance plan. When he needed a colonoscopy, he thought it would cover most of the bill. Then he learned his plan’s limited benefits would cost him plenty.
KFF Health News Sues To Force Disclosure of Medicare Advantage Audit Records
By Fred Schulte
November 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Freedom of Information Act case targets HHS inspector general’s reviews of billions of dollars in health plan overpayments.
Medicare Drug Plans Are Getting Better Next Year. Some Will Also Cost More.
By Susan Jaffe
October 21, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Every year, Medicare officials encourage beneficiaries to shop around for their drug coverage. Few take the time. This year, it might be more important than ever.
The Medicare Advantage Influence Machine
By Fred Schulte Holly K. Hacker
September 30, 2024
KFF Health News Original
New court filings and lobbying reports reveal an industry drive to tamp down critics — and retain billions of dollars in overcharges.
Most Insurance Covers IUDs. Hers Cost More Than $14,000.
By Julie Appleby
Updated January 31, 2025
Originally Published January 31, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The Affordable Care Act requires most insurance plans to cover preventive care, including many forms of contraception, without cost to patients — but not if they’re “grandfathered” plans, which predate the law.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': End-of-Year Chaos on Capitol Hill
December 19, 2024
Podcast
Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate successfully negotiated an enormous end-of-Congress health package, including bipartisan efforts to address prescription drug prices — only to see it blown up at the last minute after Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump applied pressure. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court accepted its first abortion-related case of the term, and the attorney general of Texas sued a doctor in New York for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas patient. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman about what happened in health policy in 2024 and what to expect in 2025.
Vance Wrongly Blames Rural Hospital Closures on Immigrants in the Country Illegally
By Sam Whitehead
October 29, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Experts disputed the claim by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, noting that a range of other issues — from low reimbursement rates to declining patient use — combine to cause these facilities to shutter.
Trump’s Order on Gender-Affirming Care Escalates Reversal of Trans Rights
By Julie Appleby
January 31, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The Jan. 28 executive order directs federal regulators to cut insurance coverage for hormonal or surgical treatments that help in young people’s gender transitions and cut federal funding for medical professionals or institutions that provide such care. It will likely be challenged in court.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Happy 50th, ERISA
August 15, 2024
Podcast
What does a law to protect worker pensions have to do with how health insurance is regulated? Far more than most people may think. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, turns 50 in September. The law fundamentally changed the way the federal and state governments regulate employer-provided health insurance and continues to shape health policy in the United States. In this special episode of “What the Health?”, host and KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner speaks to Larry Levitt of KFF, Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and Ilyse Schuman of the American Benefits Council about the history of ERISA and what its future might hold.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Medicaid in the Crosshairs, Maybe
February 20, 2025
Podcast
President Donald Trump has said he won’t support major cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program for people with low incomes, but he has endorsed a House budget plan that calls for major cuts, leaving the program’s future in doubt. Meanwhile, thousands of workers at the Department of Health and Human Services were fired over the holiday weekend, from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with possibly more cuts to come.
Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A Rules Change Would Open the ACA to ‘Dreamers’
By Julie Appleby
October 31, 2024
KFF Health News Original
It’s that time of year again: open enrollment for Affordable Care Act insurance — a period that runs from tomorrow to Jan. 15 in most states, a bit longer in some, and shorter in Idaho. One of the biggest changes this time around: a new rule from the Biden administration that opens enrollment to Deferred […]
An Arm and a Leg: Meet the Middleman’s Middleman
By Dan Weissmann
June 25, 2024
Podcast
Why are patients facing bigger bills than they expect for out-of-network care? In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” the show explains the hidden mechanics of MultiPlan, a data firm that helps health insurers set these rates and make bigger returns.
Biden’s on Target About What Repealing ACA Would Mean for Preexisting Condition Protections
By Jacob Gardenswartz
June 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A Biden campaign ad highlighting how an Obamacare repeal would affect people with preexisting conditions is mostly true.
Unauthorized Sign-Ups Cast Shadow on Obamacare’s Record Enrollment
By Julie Appleby
April 4, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration faces what looks like a growing problem for the federal Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchange: disreputable insurance brokers enrolling people who don’t need coverage or switching them to new plans without their authorization. It happened to Michael Debriae, a restaurant server who lives in Charlotte. Unbeknownst to him, an agent in Florida […]
Vance Rewrites History About Trump and Obamacare
By Julie Appleby
September 24, 2024
KFF Health News Original
During the Trump administration, enrollment in Affordable Care Act health plans fell by more than 2 million people and the number of uninsured Americans rose.
Whatever Happened to Biden’s Public Option?
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
April 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
In the 2020 elections, then-candidate Joe Biden and many of his congressional colleagues loudly advocated for a federal “public option” health insurance plan. It was framed, at the time, as part of his incoming administration’s response to the pandemic. “Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the public option at zero cost to them, though […]
Presidential Election Puts Affordable Care Act Back in the Bull’s-Eye
By Stephanie Armour
October 25, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The outcome of the upcoming presidential election could affect the number of insured Americans, the fate of premium-reducing subsidies, the shape of Medicaid, and the cost of coverage for tens of millions of people.
