Hospitals and Doctors Are Fed up With Medicare Advantage
By Julie Appleby
November 29, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Medicare Advantage plans are pretty popular with both lawmakers and ordinary Americans — they now enroll about 31 million people, representing just over half of everyone in Medicare, by KFF’s count. But among doctors and hospitals, it’s a different story. Across the country, provider grumbling about claim denials and onerous preapproval requirements by Advantage plans […]
California Is Investing $500M in Therapy Apps for Youth. Advocates Fear It Won’t Pay Off.
By Molly Castle Work
Updated April 26, 2024
Originally Published April 26, 2024
KFF Health News Original
California launched two teletherapy apps as part of the governor’s $500 million foray into health technology with private companies. But the rollout has been so slow that one company has yet to make its app available on Android, and social workers worry youths who need clinical care won’t get referrals.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
April 30, 2024
KFF Health News Original
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week.
Lawsuit Alleges Obamacare Plan-Switching Scheme Targeted Low-Income Consumers
By Julie Appleby
April 16, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that large call centers were used to enroll people into Affordable Care Act plans or to switch their coverage, all without their permission.
Emergency Physicians Decry Surprise Air-Ambulance Bills
By Molly Castle Work
March 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Emergency room doctors say insurers are increasingly declining to cover costly air-ambulance rides for critically ill patients, claiming they aren’t medically necessary. And the National Association of EMS Physicians says the No Surprises Act, enacted in 2022, is partly to blame. The law protects patients from many out-of-network medical bills by requiring insurers and providers […]
An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare Machines
By Dan Weissmann
April 10, 2024
Podcast
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.
The GOP Keeps Pushing Medicaid Work Requirements, Despite Setbacks
By Renuka Rayasam and Andy Miller
April 3, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Work requirements in Medicaid expansion programs are back on the agenda in many statehouses — despite their lackluster track record. In Mississippi, the idea has momentum from GOP lawmakers advancing legislation to expand Medicaid. In Kansas, the Democratic governor proposed work requirements to try to soften Republican opposition to expansion. (She’s had little luck, so […]
The No Surprises Act Comes With Some Surprises
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
February 14, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The No Surprises Act, the landmark law intended to protect patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills, has come with, well, some surprises. A little more than two years after it took effect, there’s good and bad news about how it’s working. First, it’s important to note that the law has successfully protected millions of patients […]
When Rogue Brokers Switch People’s ACA Policies, Tax Surprises Can Follow
By Julie Appleby
April 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Some tax filers’ returns are being rejected because they failed to provide information about Affordable Care Act coverage they didn’t even know they had.
California Is Expanding Insurance Access for Teenagers Seeking Therapy on Their Own
By April Dembosky, KQED
March 28, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parents’ consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the state’s culture wars.
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
January 2, 2024
KFF Health News Original
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
April 4, 2024
Podcast
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect immediately — before an even more sweeping, six-week ban replaces it in May. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is doubling down on his administration’s health care accomplishments as he kicks off his general election campaign. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews health care analyst Jeff Goldsmith about the growing size and influence of UnitedHealth Group in the wake of the Change Healthcare hack.
When Copay Assistance Backfires on Patients
By Julie Appleby
March 15, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Drugmakers offer copay assistance programs to patients, but insurers are tapping into those funds, not counting the amounts toward patient deductibles. That leads to unexpected charges. But the practice is under growing scrutiny.
Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirements Costing Taxpayers Millions Despite Low Enrollment
By Andy Miller and Renuka Rayasam
March 20, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s Georgia Pathways to Coverage program has seen anemic enrollment while chalking up millions in start-up costs — largely in technology and consulting fees. Critics say the money’s being wasted on a costly and ineffective alternative to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.
Hollywood’s A-List Health Insurance Is Jeopardized by the Labor Strikes
By Jackie Fortiér, LAist
September 7, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Hollywood actors and writers who qualify for their union health plans get a very good deal compared with other Americans. But not working during the strike threatens their eligibility in the system.
Who Polices Hospitals Merging Across Markets? States Give Different Answers
By Samantha Liss
September 28, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Increasingly, hospitals are merging across separate markets within states. It’s a move that health economists and the Federal Trade Commission have been closely watching, as evidence shows such mergers raise prices for patients with no improvement in care.
Biden’s Got a New Set of Orders for Obamacare. Is It His Last?
By Julie Appleby
December 1, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The Biden administration has issued its latest official wish list for Obamacare insurance plans, potentially one of the last major Affordable Care Act health policy efforts in the president’s first term. Changes on tap for 2025? For one, the administration wants states that run their own ACA marketplaces to crack down on what’s called “network […]
Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
May 26, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The Department of Health and Human Services is tasked with monitoring denials both by Obamacare health plans and those offered through employers and insurers. As insurers’ denials become more common, they sometimes defy not just medical standards of care but sheer logic. Why hasn’t the agency fulfilled its assignment?
An Arm and a Leg: Self-Defense 101: Keeping Your Cool While You Fight
By Dan Weissmann
January 30, 2024
Podcast
On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann seeks advice for fighting unfair medical bills from an unexpected source: an expert in self-defense.
Your Doctor or Your Insurer? Little-Known Rules May Ease the Choice in Medicare Advantage
By Susan Jaffe
March 29, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Disputes between hospitals and Medicare Advantage plans are leading to entire hospital systems suddenly leaving insurance networks. Patients are left stuck in the middle, choosing between their doctors and their insurance plan. There’s a way out.