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Colorado Sets Its Exchange Fee

By Eric Whitney March 13, 2013 KFF Health News Original

The price of policies in Colorado’s health insurance exchange will include a 1.4 percent fee to help fund exchange operations. The state’s exchange board voted to enact the fee Monday. Board Chairwoman Gretchen Hammer characterized it as lean compared with the 3.5 percent fee the federal government is expected to tack on to policies sold […]

New Reasons To ‘Like’ Online Hospital Reviews

By Jordan Rau March 1, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Millions of dollars and some of the best minds in health care have been devoted to measuring how good a hospital is. But two studies suggest users of two social media giants, Facebook and Yelp, may do a solid job of reflecting quality. The findings are particularly important as more people are turning to the […]

Matchmaker, Er, Match Week, Make Me A Doc

By Ankita Rao March 15, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Fourth-year medical students have been talking a lot about their perfect match these days:  first impressions, the one who called right after they met, some that were too far away. For many, “match week” — this week — is what they’ve been working toward over the past four years. It’s the week that decides if, and […]

Big Firms Win Multimillion Dollar Contracts To Build Insurance Marketplaces

By Phil Galewitz February 19, 2013 KFF Health News Original

President Barack Obama’s health law has been criticized as a “government takeover” of health care. But private companies are building the underpinnings of the online health insurance marketplaces that are a key element of the law – and winning contracts worth hundreds of millions to do so. Deloitte Consulting, part of the Big Four accounting […]

Feds Blame Mississippi Governor For Exchange Denial

By Phil Galewitz February 8, 2013 KFF Health News Original

One, Mississippi has become No, Mississippi. The Obama administration on Friday offered an explanation for why it rejected Mississippi’s bid to establish a state-based online health insurance marketplace, called One, Mississippi. In a letter, the federal government’s top exchange official said they had no choice because Gov. Phil Bryant would not allow the exchange to work with […]

California Sets Standard Deductibles, Copays For Insurance Plans

By Julie Appleby February 13, 2013 KFF Health News Original

California on Wednesday became the first state to standardize health insurance plans under the federal health law, which regulators say will make shopping for health insurance easier  when new online marketplaces begin enrolling customers in the fall. The state has set specific rules governing how much insurers can charge consumers for such things as office visits, […]

Valentine’s Day Surprise: Senate Democrats Blast Obamacare Implementation

By Phil Galewitz February 14, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Senate Democrats on Thursday showed little love to the Obama administration for how it is implementing the federal health law. Testifying before the powerful Senate Finance Committee, the administration’s top regulator on new health exchanges encountered criticism from several Democrats who helped push through the 2010 federal health overhaul — among them Chairman Max Baucus of […]

Today’s Headlines – Jan. 16, 2013

By Stephanie Stapleton January 16, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports examining how mental health issues play a role in efforts to curb gun violence and expand gun control efforts. The New York Times: For ‘Party Of Business,’ Allegiances Are Shifting Big business is so fearful of economic peril if Congress does not allow the […]

Utah, HHS Quibble Over Best Way To Run State Insurance Market

By Phil Galewitz January 15, 2013 KFF Health News Original

The Obama administration says it is bending over backwards to help states carry out the federal health law. Utah’s top health insurance exchange official says the federal government could do more. “There’s hasn’t been much dialogue,” said Patty Conner, director of the Utah Health Exchange, which recently rebranded itself Avenue H. She hopes federal health officials […]

Consumers May Draw Wrong Conclusions From Medical Prices

By Shefali S. Kulkarni January 3, 2013 KFF Health News Original

Some health policy experts and consumer advocates are pushing for greater transparency in the pricing of medical good and services.  If consumers know the price of an item, so the thinking goes, they’ll make smarter decisions about whether they need it. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that consumers’ perceptions […]