Latest KFF Health News Stories
GOP Fix To Insurance Markets Could Spike Premiums For Older Customers
As Republicans consider how to bring down costs for younger people, lawmakers may relax or eliminate the restrictions on how much more insurers can charge older consumers.
Some Immigrants, Fearful Of Political Climate, Shy Away From Medi-Cal
Some foreign-born California residents fear they could be penalized for using Medi-Cal and other social benefits. Others, in families of mixed-immigration status, worry about jeopardizing their loved ones’ chances of becoming green-card holders or citizens.
Single-Payer Health Care Bill Introduced In California Senate
The legislation is only a first step, declaring the “intent” of the state Senate without specifics or a timetable.
ER Visits Linked To Falls Spike Among California Seniors
State data show a rise of nearly 40 percent in fall-related visits from 2010 to 2015, a period in which the elderly population grew about 21 percent.
Docs In Northwest Tweak Aid-In-Dying Drugs To Prevent Prolonged Deaths
Some terminal patients, typically high-dose opioid users, who choose to end their lives have taken many hours, even days, to die.
Facing Pressure, Insurance Plans Loosen Rules For Covering Addiction Treatment
Aetna will be the third major insurer to remove prior authorization requirements for patients who seek medication-assisted treatments such as Suboxone.
Health Law’s 10 Essential Benefits: A Look At What’s At Risk In GOP Overhaul
The woman set to run the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told senators last week that maternity coverage should be optional in individual and small group plans. But other services could also be left on the cutting room floor.
‘Tsunami’ Of Alzheimer’s Cases Among Latinos Raises Concerns Over Costs, Caregiving
The number of U.S. Latinos with the memory-robbing disease is expected to rise more than eightfold by 2060 to 3.5 million.
El “tsunami” de casos de Alzheimer entre latinos plantea inquietudes sobre el cuidado y los costos
Se espera que el número de latinos con la enfermedad roba-memoria aumente más de 8 veces para 2060, a 3.5 millones.
Veteran Teaches Therapists How To Talk About Gun Safety When Suicide’s A Risk
Most veterans who commit suicide do so with a gun, but most therapists don’t understand gun culture. A veteran who has struggled with depression himself now helps bridge that gap by educating mental health professionals.
Congressman’s Ties To Foreign Biotech Draw Criticism
Rep. Chris Collins’ enthusiastic investments in Australian biotech company Innate Immunotherapeutics preceded share purchases by the Buffalo Republican’s family members, associates and political donors — raising questions from Washington, D.C., to Sydney.
Treatment Gaps Persist Between Low- And High-Income Workers, Even With Insurance
People earning low wages are more likely than those with higher incomes to go to an emergency room or be admitted to the hospital for avoidable conditions, a study in Health Affairs finds.
Right-To-Die Fight Hits National Stage
A Republican-led effort to overturn D.C.’s aid-in-dying law may catalyze a broader effort to ban the practice nationally.
5 Reasons Why An $89,000 Drug Has Congress Fuming
A drug from Marathon Pharmaceuticals has ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill and beyond. What makes it different than the $750,000 drug that came before it?
Travel Ban Spotlights U.S. Dependence On Foreign-Born Doctors
One in four doctors practicing in the U.S. is an international medical doctor. Many foreign-born doctors practice in parts of the country where there are doctor shortages.
For California’s Smallest Businesses, Obamacare Opened The Door
The state has one of the highest rates of small business owners who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
How Long You Stay On Opioids May Depend On The Doctor You See In the ER
A study shows some emergency physicians wrote far more opioid prescriptions and Medicare patients who saw those doctors were more likely to still be taking the addictive painkillers months later.
New Rules Try To Shore Up Individual Health Insurance Market In 2018
The Trump administration’s first health regulation would shorten the enrollment periods and make it harder for patients to get coverage outside of that annual signup period.
Individual Insurance Primer: Long-Troubled Market At Center Of Drive For Repeal
People who do not get insurance through their job or the government have long battled a difficult market.
Docs Bill Medicare For End-Of-Life Advice As ‘Death Panel’ Fears Reemerge
The federal program paid $16 million in the first six months of 2016 to counsel 223,000 patients about treatment preferences in their last days.