ACA’s Popularity Grows, Even As GOP Lauds Change To Requirement To Have Coverage
Forty percent of people are unaware that Congress repealed the penalty for most people who don’t have insurance coverage starting in 2019.
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Cartoon Mascot Masks Nasty Health Care Feud
California’s health insurers trotted out a heart-healthy character with an ulterior motive — taking a dig at drugmakers.
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Never Too Late To Operate? Surgery Near End Of Life Is Common, Costly
Nearly 1 in 3 Medicare patients undergo an operation in their final year of life.
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Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead
When President Donald Trump signed the nation’s new tax law, he also killed the Affordable Care Act’s tax penalty — but not until 2019. Despite widespread confusion, experts caution that consumers still need to pay the tax penalty if they were uninsured last year or will be this year.
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Following The Fire: Montana Scientists Seize Chance To Scrutinize Smoke Exposure
The health effects of extended smoke exposure are largely unknown because it’s difficult to conduct studies. But last summer’s wildfire season has handed scientists a unique opportunity for research.
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At Some California Hospitals, Fewer Than Half Of Workers Get The Flu Shot
Vaccinations rates have climbed significantly among hospital workers in recent years, to 83 percent. But that rate masks wide variation among facilities and types of workers. Nationally, the rules are far from uniform or ironclad.
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Refusing To Work For Medicaid May Not Translate To Subsidies For ACA Plan
In states that are instituting work requirements for Medicaid coverage, refusing to get a job will not likely make you eligible for subsidies to buy a marketplace plan.
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Trump’s Perfect Score On Brain Test Spawns DIY Cognitive Exam
The makers of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, say the test wasn’t meant for the masses. Now they’re working on a “mini-MoCA” that people who are worried about possible dementia can take online.
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Evaluations Of Medicaid Experiments By States, CMS Are Weak, GAO Says
States often get federal approval to test new approaches to improve Medicaid services or expand coverage. But the GAO study found that too often these efforts are not adequately evaluated or the results are not available in a timely manner.
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Ten ERs In Colorado Tried To Curtail Opioids And Did Better Than Expected
The collaboration known as ALTO, Alternatives to Opioids, set out to reduce opioid doses in the emergency room by 15 percent. It managed a 36 percent reduction instead.
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Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The Long Wait Ends For Short-Term Plan Rules
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss the Trump administration’s proposed regulation that would allow the expansion of short-term health insurance policies that do not comply with all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The panelists also talk about federal funding (or not) of public health research around guns.
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After Shooting, ‘Honor How Kids Want To Deal With Their Feelings’
Christine Sylvest, a child psychologist who now works in Maryland, for three years attended the Parkland, Fla., high school where a shooting attack left 17 people dead last week. She says the tragedy affects the entire community.
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Couple Makes Millions Off Medicaid Managed Care As Oversight Lags
How a California health plan’s CEO and her husband, an executive consultant, got rich off the taxpayer-funded program for the poor. Critics see a conflict of interest, the plan doesn’t, and the state has no rules either way.
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Bad Bedside Manna: Bank Loans Signed In The Hospital Leave Patients Vulnerable
Hospitals increasingly team up with lending institutions to offer low- or no-interest loans to patients to make sure their bills get paid. But critics say the complexity of hospital pricing means consumers should be cautious.
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Trump Administration Proposes Rule To Loosen Curbs On Short-Term Health Plans
The policy change is likely to entice younger and healthier people from the general insurance pool by allowing a range of lower-cost options that don’t include all the benefits required by the federal health law.
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Reducing Red Tape For Traveling Nurses
A multistate nursing agreement allows nurses to work in numerous states without the hassle and expense of obtaining licenses in each one. More than half of states have signed onto an upgraded version of the agreement — but not California.
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Anthem Calls On Eye Surgeons To Monitor Anesthesia During Cataract Surgery
The insurer says it is not usually medically necessary to have an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist on hand during the common surgery.
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Listen: Got A Sky-High Bill? Don’t Write The Check.
Have you gotten a medical bill that sounds way too expensive or is just downright confusing? Send it to us. KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal talks with NPR Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep about the launch of “Bill Of The Month,” KHN and NPR’s new crowdsourced investigation.
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Bill Of The Month: A College Student’s $17,850 Drug Test
Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with NPR, kicks off a series that will examine and decode your perplexing medical bills.
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In An Effort To Curb Drug Costs, States Advance Bills To Prod Feds On Importation
Legislatures in blue and red states alike are considering proposals that would allow them to import prescription drugs from Canada.
