Medicare Enrollment Blitz Doesn’t Include Options to Move Into Medigap
By Harris Meyer
November 9, 2021
KFF Health News Original
TV ads and mailings targeting seniors tout Medicare Advantage plans this time of year, but millions choosing traditional Medicare make a costly and difficult decision about Medigap coverage, which gets much less attention.
Morning Briefing for Friday, October 18, 2024
October 18, 2024
Morning Briefing
Storm fallout on health care, teen tobacco use, Medicare Advantage plans, flu shot, emergency abortion care, and more. Plus, your weekend reads.
What Mobile Clinics in Dollar General Parking Lots Say About Health Care in Rural America
By Sarah Jane Tribble
October 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Dollar General’s pilot mobile clinic program has been touted by company officials, rural health experts, and analysts as a model that could help solve rural America’s primary care shortage. But its Tennessee launch has been met with local skepticism.
Insurers Collected Billions In Dubious Medicare Advantage Payments: Watchdog Report
October 25, 2024
Morning Briefing
A HHS watchdog reports that insurers like UnitedHealth, Humana were paid an estimated $7.5 billion last year from health risk assessments that diagnosed serious health conditions for which patients had no follow-up care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to crack down on the practice though.
Democrats’ Plans to Expand Medicare Benefits May Pinch Advantage Plans’ Funding
By Michelle Andrews
October 28, 2021
KFF Health News Original
As lawmakers weigh new spending provisions to cover dental, hearing and vision services for Medicare beneficiaries, a group supporting Medicare Advantage plans is airing commercials that raise concerns about the funding for those private plans.
Medicare Advantage Plans’ Quality Ratings From CMS Fall Again
October 11, 2024
Morning Briefing
Only 40% of Medicare Advantage health prescription drug plans achieved a four-star rating or higher under the current criteria used by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to grade quality. The federal health agency has sought to make it harder to win top scores — in 2022, 68% of plans were four stars or higher.
Insurers To Shift A Bit From Medicare Advantage To Special Needs Plans
October 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Health insurance companies are expected to pull back slightly from Medicare Advantage investing in 2025. Instead, Modern Healthcare reports, they will focus on Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans, or D-SNPs, which cover people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Other industry news is on employer plans, executive jobs, and more.
Morning Briefing for Tuesday, April 2, 2024
April 2, 2024
Morning Briefing
ACA plans, Medicare Advantage payments, bird flu, opioid settlements, patient consent for exams, abortion, and more are in the news.
Trump Administration Bumps Payment Rates For Medicare Insurers By 5%
April 8, 2025
Morning Briefing
The boost is double the one proposed in January by the Biden administration. Meanwhile, a study shows how UnitedHealth Group used certain strategies to get more money from Medicare Advantage.
Cigna Scaling Back Medicare Advantage Offerings In 8 States In 2025
September 20, 2024
Morning Briefing
Modern Healthcare reports that the move by group’s health insurance unit will affect members of certain health plans in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Meanwhile, Atrium Health cancels many past medical debt judgments.
Morning Briefing for Wednesday, May 15, 2024
May 15, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s roundup covers opioid settlement funds, medical debt, Medicare Advantage, medical supply tariffs, facility fees, masks, and more.
Morning Briefing for Friday, June 14, 2024
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
Abortion pill and IVF access, Medicare Advantage plan ratings, bird flu, covid vaccines, hospital staffing, and more. Plus, weekend reads.
Moody’s Dings Health Insurance Sector With ‘Negative’ Outlook
February 5, 2025
Morning Briefing
The ratings agency expects Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and commercial insurers to continue to see high medical costs this year. More industry news is about Baystate Health, Tricare East, and others.
Medicare Pay Cuts Will Hurt Seniors’ Care, Doctors Argue
By Michael McAuliff
December 20, 2022
KFF Health News Original
New reductions in Medicare payments in 2023 will drive more doctors away from accepting Medicare patients, physicians say. They are again pushing back on efforts largely designed to control government spending.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP House Opens With Abortion Agenda
January 12, 2023
Podcast
Leaders of the new Republican-led U.S. House kicked off their legislative agenda with two bills supported by anti-abortion groups. While neither is likely to become law, the move demonstrates how abortion will continue to be an issue in Washington. Meanwhile, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act nears its end in most states, the number of Americans covered by the plans hits a new high. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s 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.
Morning Briefing for Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024
Morning Briefing
Medicare Advantage, ‘junk’ insurance plans, latest on Change hack, PFAS, abortion pills, dementia, flu shots, and more are in the news.
GOP Can’t Attain Budget Goal Without Cuts To Medicaid, Medicare, Or CHIP
March 6, 2025
Morning Briefing
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis Wednesday. Other coverage from Capitol Hill and the White House is on high-deductible health plans, price transparency, Medicare Advantage lawsuits, and more.
Justice Department Targets Data Mining in Medicare Advantage Fraud Case
By Fred Schulte
September 14, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The feds’ civil suit links exaggerated patient bills to “tens of millions” in overcharges.
Officials Try To Keep Medicare Part D Premiums Steady As Elections Loom
August 5, 2024
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on nurse visits that are less about treating Medicare Advantage recipients and more about allowing insurers to get more government cash.
Five Key Health Insurers Reveal 2025’s Medicare Advantage Plans
October 2, 2024
Morning Briefing
The announcements by Cigna, CVS, Humana, Centene, and UnitedHealth were made ahead of the beginning of Medicare Advantage enrollment, which begins Oct. 15. Among other news, a top California health plan will offer one of the world’s top-selling drugs, Humira, for free to show how skirting middlemen can improve drug affordability.
