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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Farewell, Individual Mandate

KFF Health News Original

In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss health issues in the emerging tax bill, including the likely repeal of fines for those who fail to obtain health insurance. They also talk about the end of “open enrollment” for 2018 individual health insurance coverage.

Good Deals For Some, Sticker Shock For Others As ACA Enrollment Winds Down

KFF Health News Original

In Tennessee, an Obamacare consumer saw her rate go from $750 to just $5 a month. But a man in Maryland had to buy a less comprehensive plan to keep his costs under $1,000 a month. Income and geography determine prices for health insurance in the fifth year of Affordable Care Act coverage.

Listen: Collins Plays Let’s Make A Deal On ACA Mandate Repeal

KFF Health News Original

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says she will vote for the GOP tax bill even though it repeals the ACA’s  mandate that everyone buy insurance. She’s gotten trade offs that she says will stabilize the market, but not everyone agrees they will offset the damage of losing the mandate.

Fear Compromises The Health, Well-Being Of Immigrant Families, Report Finds

KFF Health News Original

Interviews with immigrants from 15 countries and pediatricians in eight states reveal that fear of deportation is putting parents and children under heightened stress, impeding daily activities and jeopardizing long-term health.

Consumers Who Froze Their Credit Reports Could Hit A Glitch Enrolling In Insurance

KFF Health News Original

The federal marketplace generally uses credit reports to help verify identities, but that doesn’t work if consumers have put a security freeze on them — as some did after the Equifax breach this year. Workarounds for this issue exist, but they make the process more time-consuming.

These Annual Checkups Help Seniors Not Only Survive But Thrive

KFF Health News Original

Seniors are living longer and defying predictions of cognitive and functional decline. Wellness coaches guide them in setting goals for the year — whether physical, social, in­tellectual or spiritual.

Sign-Up Deadline Is Friday, But Some People May Get Extra Time

KFF Health News Original

Although in most states the insurance marketplace deadline is Friday, some consumers might be entitled to a special enrollment period if their 2017 plan is being discontinued or they are from states designated by the federal government as hurricane disaster areas.

An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs

KFF Health News Original

Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about “deprescribing” or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.

In Era Of Increased Competition, Hospitals Fret Over Ratings

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals are jockeying for patients and view the many different quality and safety ratings as a keen way to distinguish their services. But when those ratings nosedive, a hospital may retaliate.