3 More Top Medical Schools Withdraw From US News Rankings
January 25, 2023
Morning Briefing
Following Harvard University, three more top-10 medical schools — at the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia and Stanford universities — have now also withdrawn their data from the U.S. News list. Audits of Medicare Advantage insurers, clawbacks, and price transparency are also in the news.
The Supreme Court Just Limited Federal Power. Health Care Is Feeling the Shockwaves.
By Stephanie Armour
July 1, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A Supreme Court ruling restricting federal power will likely have seismic ramifications for health policy. A flood of litigation — with plaintiffs like small businesses, drugmakers, and hospitals challenging regulations they say are too expensive or burdensome and not authorized by law — could leave the country with a patchwork of disparate health regulations.
Elevance Health Must Face $100 Million Medicare Advantage Fraud Case
October 5, 2022
Morning Briefing
Judge Andrew Carter ruled Elevance, formerly Anthem, must face a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging the insurer submitted fraudulent patient information. In other news, a Bay Area hospital is sued over a $6,000 urine test, and John Muir Health is sued for allegedly overcharging patients.
CMS Eyes Mandating Electronic Prior Authorization Systems By 2026
December 7, 2022
Morning Briefing
The proposed rule calls for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and some other health insurance exchanges to update prior authorization processes. Among the potential mandates are for payers to respond to “urgent” requests within 72 hours, justify denials, and report decisions.
Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead?
By Judith Graham
July 6, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Aduhelm, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month despite questions about its efficacy, could be prescribed to at least 1 million patients a year, for a price tag of about $56 billion. Experts suggest there might be better ways to spend that money.
Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance on Health Care
By Stephanie Armour
August 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
As Democrats convene in Chicago to make official their presidential and vice presidential nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz together are raising the prominence of health care as a 2024 election issue.
Centene Showers Politicians With Millions as It Courts Contracts and Settles Overbilling Allegations
By Samantha Young Andy Miller Rebecca Grapevine
November 4, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Centene, the largest Medicaid managed-care company in the U.S., has thrown more than $26.9 million at political campaigns across the country since 2015, especially focused on states where it is wooing Medicaid contracts and settling accusations that it overbilled taxpayers. Among its tactics: Centene is skirting contribution limits by giving to candidates through its many subsidiaries.
Officials Spotlight Abuses Of Medicare Advantage Coding
May 19, 2022
Morning Briefing
The coding process in private Medicare plan options need to be reformed, former and current officials have said, noting that health insurers’ use of coding to get higher payments is a problem. Also: Cerebral replaces its CEO, patient risks from ransomware attacks, and more.
Connecticut Expands Medicaid To Children Of All Immigrants
January 10, 2023
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, in New York City, officials defended legislation designed to charge municipal retirees who don’t opt into the Medicare Advantage plan for coverage. Other news from across the country covers covid deaths in Orange County, rural Latinx violence survivors, marijuana sales in Connecticut, and more.
Biden Leans Into Health Care, Asking Voters To Trust Him Over Trump
By Phil Galewitz
May 21, 2024
KFF Health News Original
President Joe Biden’s new health care ad draws on the Affordable Care Act’s popularity among independent voters and alludes to his edge over Trump on health issues.
FTC, Indiana Residents Pressure State To Block Hospital Merger
By Samantha Liss
November 19, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Hundreds of people and the Federal Trade Commission weighed in on a proposed hospital merger in Terre Haute, Indiana, with most arguing that the creation of a monopoly would increase costs and worsen patient care.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
September 14, 2023
Podcast
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
Patent Battle Over Generic Versions Of Gilead HIV Drug Settled
September 13, 2022
Morning Briefing
Five drugmakers had proposed generic versions of Gilead’s HIV and hepatitis B drugs and are now licensed to sell them from around 2031 onward. Also in the news: Medicare advantage star ratings, and more.
3 States Limit Nursing Home Profits in Bid to Improve Care
By Susan Jaffe
October 25, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Following the devastating impact of covid-19 on nursing homes, state lawmakers want to be sure that government and private payments primarily go to improve care and staffing.
Gaps In Maternity Care Are Widening Across The US: Report
October 11, 2022
Morning Briefing
Stat covers an upcoming March of Dimes report that says 2% more American counties are categorized as maternity care “deserts” since the 2020 report. Problems for Centene’s expansion of Medicare Advantage, details on the CommonSpirit Health hack, and more are in the news.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Delta Blues
August 5, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Covid is back with a vengeance, with some people clamoring for booster shots while others harden their resistance to getting vaccinated at all. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is pushing hard on drugmaker Pfizer’s request to upgrade the emergency authorization for its vaccine and give it final approval. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Alabama’s IVF Ruling Still Making Waves
February 29, 2024
Podcast
Lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are scrambling to react to the ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization are legally children. Abortion opponents are divided among themselves, with some supporting full “personhood” for fertilized eggs, while others support IVF as a moral way to have children. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University schools of nursing and public health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews University of Pittsburgh law professor Greer Donley, who explains how a 150-year-old anti-vice law that’s still on the books could be used to ban abortion nationwide. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester Jenny Gold
February 22, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California’s largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': As US Bumps Against Debt Ceiling, Medicare Becomes a Bargaining Chip
January 19, 2023
Podcast
The debt ceiling crisis facing Washington puts Medicare and other popular entitlement programs squarely on the negotiating table this year as newly empowered Republicans demand spending cuts. Meanwhile, as more Americans than ever have health insurance, the nation’s health care workforce is straining under the load. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
June 7, 2023
Podcast
The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program’s new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.
