The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
The new health overhaul law will encourage employers to stop offering health insurance. We should welcome this, provided the decline in employer coverage is gradual and good alternatives exist. The upside is that it will make more visible the biggest looming health care problem: costs.
A new report says federal funding will not cover the insurance needs of all the people who now have trouble getting coverage because of preexisting conditions. But HHS officials disagree with the findings.
More than $2.5 billion in government-backed loans to doctors, dentists and other health care providers is helping to stimulate the economy and help patients, but some health experts say the money could increase health costs.
A funny thing happens when a computer challenges orders for medical scans that aren’t likely to help diagnose patients: Doctors often drop the test requests.
The House of Representatives may vote on legislation this week that would stop a scheduled June 1 payment cut for doctors who accept Medicare physicians.
The House of Representatives may vote on legislation this week that would stop a scheduled June 1 payment cut for doctors who accept Medicare physicians.
Caring for a sick or disabled elderly relative exacts a toll — physical, emotional, financial — on any family member, but being a spousal caregiver brings particular challenges.
College health plans – used by students who aren’t covered by family insurance plans or whose parents are uninsured – can offer only limited protection. The new health law may help.
The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services has suspended voluntary admissions to the state’s three hospitals for the mentally ill because they are full.
Family caregivers now administer arsenals of medications and undertake procedures, from wound care to dialysis, that were once the province of medical professionals.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, said he was “alarmed” by Berwick’s admiration of the NHS. Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona and Pat Roberts of Kansas say Berwick advocates the “rationing” of care. Of course, as Berwick pointed out, our system already rations care by income and medical status. Apparently this is not so alarming to McConnell and the rest of the GOP.
David Blumenthal is guiding the deployment of up to $27 billion in federal stimulus money to help doctors and hospitals implement health information technology. Proponents say the shift is critical to achieving goals of medical care quality and cost control.
Confusion from the primary elections this week punctuated the Obama administration’s progress on implementing the new health law.
Some parents, hoping that their young adult children could get insurance soon, are finding that many large employers aren’t planning to offer the new benefit early.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius must soon decide how to spend millions of dollars on a potentially endless array of worthy prevention projects, ranging from bike trails and community gardens to local public health departments and obesity prevention.
A deal to buy the beleaguered city’s largest health system would mean $850 million in improvements.
A growing number of physicians are leaving traditional insurance-based practices to offer VIP treatment.
Areas like Provo, Utah, that were once models of cost-efficient care are becoming more expensive
Although some critics say marketing drives up costs, many in the hospital industry say it’s crucial in the face of increasing competition. One Dallas area hospital is trying a version of “speed dating” to bring in patients and doctors.
In a new KHN feature, Michelle Andrews writes about the coming changes to health care. The new law offers relief for people who can’t get insurance because they are sick or have been sick. States can set up their own pools, or let the federal government do it.
