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When Congress created the option for beneficiaries to join the private Medicare Advantage plans, it gave oversight to federal officials, preempting state insurance laws and procedures.
With specialized training and a redirection of resources, San Antonio’s police force is taking better care of mentally ill people, keeping them out of jail and saving $10 million a year.
The alphabet soup that distinguishes different types of insurance plans is supposed to help guide consumers, but instead the choices are becoming very confusing.
Consumers in most other states have more information about, and control over, health insurance prices and plans.
Some fear helping some people with their bills might keep them from getting government-subsidized insurance plans.
A study of Medicare billing found that many dermatology procedures were done by nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Letters to the Editor is a regular feature in which readers comment on KHN original stories.
Emergency-room visits have increased at many hospitals. A shortage of primary-care doctors is one reason.
FDA and Medicare officials conduct a parallel review of a new screening test for colorectal cancer and that could bring the test to beneficiaries six months faster.
After signing up hundreds of thousands of Medi-Cal enrollees, the state now needs to figure out how to care for them.
But insurers oppose many of the premium assistance efforts, saying they would lead to sicker enrollees who will raise costs for everyone.
The National Business Group on Health also found, based on 136 large employers’ responses, a continued move toward high-deductible, “consumer-directed” plans.
Dr. Robert Galvin, who helps executives at 50 companies purchase health care for employees, tells KHN that workers must become savvier consumers.
As the number of elderly inmates needing long-term care rises, some states are looking for alternatives beyond prison walls.
KHN’s consumer columnist Michelle Andrews explores a divorced mother’s efforts to get her ex-husband to keep their sons on his plan, one senior’s problems getting Medicare to cover his antibiotic infusion at home and what earnings one reader will have to count when applying for premium subsidies.
A one-year pilot project in Gosnold, Mass., provides recovering addicts with daily, sometimes hourly, help from a recovery coach.
Truvada is a drug that can help people who are not infected avoid contracting the virus that causes AIDS. But some patients are worried the medical community is not up to speed.
