Advocates Demand Clarity About Options For Patients In Financial Need
By Jessica Marcy
January 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Many Americans continue to struggle with the high cost of medical care, unaware that non-profit hospitals are required to provide information about potential financial assistance or relief. But, a provision in the 2010 health law seeks to clarify what help hospitals should offer. Advocates were on Capitol Hill Friday to raise awareness about the provision […]
Consumer Groups Ask Obama To Not Weaken Provisions For Insurance Labels
By Susan Jaffe
January 24, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Leaders from some of the nation’s top consumer and seniors advocacy groups today urged President Barack Obama not to weaken a key consumer provision of his signature health care overhaul law. The provision requires health insurers and employers to use standardized, easy-to-understand information documents to describe health plan benefits and costs. These forms would explain how […]
32 ‘Pioneers’ Selected To Test New Health Care Model For Seniors
By Christian Torres
December 19, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Thirty-two groups were named Monday to test a new health care model, called for in the health care law, which is designed to improve care for seniors while reducing costs. The groups, which range from Boston-based Partners Healthcare, the largest health care provider in Massachusetts, to the doctor-led Healthcare Partners of southern Nevada, were selected […]
The KHN Conversation: ‘Innovation’ Advisors On Achieving CMS’ Triple Aim
By Christian Torres
January 19, 2012
KFF Health News Original
In advance of their first Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services meeting next week, four of the newly named innovation advisors talked with KHN’s Christian Torres.
New Group To Set Priorities for Medical Effectiveness Research
By Julie Appleby
January 16, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Congress is betting more than $3 billion over the next decade that “comparative effectiveness” research can transform medical care by helping determine the best approach to a particular illness.
The Parent Trap: Adult Children Care For Elderly Parents
By Marilyn Werber Serafini
March 1, 2012
KFF Health News Original
This story by Kaiser Health News’ Marilyn Werber Serafini features members of the sandwich generation: raising children, dealing with elderly parents and the care they need – and sometimes feeling like they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.
Connecticut Drops Insurers From Medicaid
By Phil Galewitz
December 29, 2011
KFF Health News Original
The ‘Insurance Capital’ bucks the nationwide trend of states turning to private managed care plans.
HHS Gives States Flexibility On Health Law’s ‘Essential Benefits’
By Julie Appleby
December 16, 2011
KFF Health News Original
States will be given wide latitude to decide what “essential benefits” insurers must offer in policies offered on new health exchanges come 2014, the Obama administration said Friday in a move that pushes off final federal rules on those benefits until sometime next year.
Today’s Headlines – December 20, 2011
By Stephanie Stapleton
December 20, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Here are your morning headlines to get you up and at ’em: The New York Times: House Set To Vote Down Payroll Tax Cut Extension A core group of conservative House members … have balked all year at short-term spending agreements, including proposed legislation to raise the debt ceiling and bills to increase […]
Health Law May Accelerate Growth In Urgent Care Centers
By Phil Galewitz
December 7, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Crowded emergency rooms and a lack of primary care doctors have fueled recent expansions. But the drive to lower costs is also a factor and could bring more customers under the overhaul.
A Health Insurance Plan President Gingrich Might Support
By Marilyn Werber Serafini
December 23, 2011
KFF Health News Original
He’s done with mandates, but Newt Gingrich likes John Goodman’s idea for helping people who buy insurance and paying for care for those who don’t.
Honduras Becomes First LAC Country To Launch National Plan To Combat NTDs
April 19, 2012
Morning Briefing
“A major milestone was achieved on April 12, when Honduras became the first country in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region to officially launch an integrated national plan to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs),” the the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect” blog reports. “Mirian Yolanda Paz, vice minister of health, led the activities and laid out the path to end nine NTDs endemic to Honduras (soil-transmitted helminths, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, cysticercosis, neonatal and nonneonatal tetnus, congenital syphilis and rabies),” the blog writes, noting, “The plan includes a budget for proposed activities and is estimated at $20 million over a five year period” (4/17).
Study: Big Employers Could Dump Sickest Employees On To Exchanges
By Elizabeth Stawicki, MPR News
November 30, 2011
KFF Health News Original
A loophole in the health law could allow employers to game the system by dumping their sicker employees onto health insurance exchanges.
A Texas-Sized Medicaid Deal
By Carrie Feibel, KUHF
December 15, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Both Perry and Obama can claim political victories with the Medicaid waiver the feds granted to the Lone Star state. But public hospitals have the most to gain from the new system.
India’s Proposed Food Security Program Will Face Infrastructure Challenges, Farm Minister Says
February 8, 2012
Morning Briefing
“India’s plan to roll out an ambitious food security program to give cheap foodgrains to the poor and malnourished won’t succeed unless the government revamps a creaky distribution network and boosts other infrastructure such as storage and transport, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said Wednesday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Unconventional Clinic Providing Safety Net For Women
By Andy Miller, Georgia Health News
November 30, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Marilyn Ringstaff’s clinic fills a void for low-income uninsured women in Rome, Georgia.
AARP, Iowa Hospitals On Air To Defend Medicare, Medicaid
By Karl Eisenhower
October 17, 2011
KFF Health News Original
While some organizations are turning to social media to get their message out about possible Medicare and Medicaid cuts, others are relying on old-fashioned paid media on television and radio. AARP and the Iowa Hospital Association are among the first on the air with messages for Congress and the super committee. AARP AARP’s ad focuses […]
Survey: Consumers Face Higher Health Care Costs
By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times
May 18, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Employees will be experiencing higher co-pays and deductibles in their health insurance next year as employers continue to reduce their overall coverage to deal with rapidly rising costs.
Premiums, Deductibles And Cost Sharing In Employer Health Plans Keep Rising
By Michelle Andrews
October 25, 2011
KFF Health News Original
As they shoulder more health care expenses, workers in some plans can reduce their costs by participating in company wellness programs.
