Latest KFF Health News Stories
Do Seniors Have Too Many Medicare Plans To Choose From?
Most seniors face a dizzying array of options each year when it comes time to choose a Medicare health or prescription drug plan. Beneficiaries can select from an average of 18 health plans and 31 prescription drug plans. In South Florida, they have 88 plan choices altogether. While choice may sound like a good thing, […]
Brew Pub Owner Frustrated That Health Plan Prices Still Jumping
The volatility in insurance rates irks a small business owner in Northeast Ohio, despite the introduction of the ACA.
Insurer Working Hard To Keep Up With Call Demand
In Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross’ success in enrolling 283,000 new members has presented several challenges.
Defining What ‘Defined Contributions’ Mean For Work-Based Health Insurance
KHN’s consumer columnist examines the pros and cons of this trend, which could give employees more responsibility for their health coverage.
Harvard: Overused Medical Services Cost Medicare Billions
Medical overtreatment is the inverse of former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography: while easy to define in concept, it can be hard to know it when you see it. A treatment that is appropriate for one patient can also be unnecessary or even counterproductive for another, depending on the patient’s condition. This […]
What Surge? Nation’s Primary Care System Holding Up Well So Far Under Obamacare
Some say early concerns were exaggerated, though late enrollment and Medicaid problems also have cut demand.
Medicare Struggling With Hepatitis-C Cure Costs
Millions of baby boomers have hepatitis-C, and as they age into Medicare, the problem is how to pay for a $100,000+ treatment.
D.C. Health Insurance Tax Triggers Insurer Pushback
All insurers that sell health-related policies would be required to pay the assessment, even those whose products aren’t sold on the exchange.
States’ Medicaid Decisions Leave Health Centers, Patients In Lurch
More than 1 million patients who use federally funded community health centers will remain uninsured because they live in one of 24 states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, according to a study released Friday by researchers at George Washington University. Most of those patients live in the South, because […]
IRS Urged To Broaden Preventive Coverage In High-Deductible Plans
High deductible health plans paired with tax-free savings accounts — increasingly common in job-based insurance and long a staple for those who buy their own coverage – pose financial difficulties for people with chronic health problems. That’s because they have to pay the annual deductible, which could be $1,250 or more, before most of their medications […]
During Confirmation Hearing, Burwell Pledges Support For CHIP
Advocates of the Children’s Health Insurance Program cheered Thursday when President Obama’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services said she supports continued funding for the program, which covers about 8 million low-income children whose families’ income exceeds Medicaid’s eligibility guidelines. During a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, Sylvia […]
A Reader Asks: Where Can I Find Insurance Options Between Open Enrollments?
KHN’s consumer columnist answers a reader’s question about what happens when, because of special circumstances, one must shop for health coverage through the online insurance marketplaces even though it’s not open enrollment season.
Cops In Conn. Train In Mental Health 101
The intersection of law enforcement and mental health has been a huge issue in Connecticut since the Newtown shootings. One department is training 20 percent of its officers to handle people with mental illnesses better.
Bipartisan Praise For Nominee To Lead HHS In Senate Hearing
Despite the warm reception from members of the Senate HELP panel, Republican senators had tough questions for Sylvia Mathews Burwell about implementation of the health law. Mary Agnes Carey and CQ Roll Call’s Melissa Attias discuss what’s next for the nomination.
Arizona Offers ‘Sneak Peak’ At Costs Of Shifting Kids Off CHIP
Families of Arizona children who were forced to switch from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to private plans sold in the federal marketplace are likely paying more and getting fewer benefits, according to a study released Thursday. Millions of families who are ineligible for Medicaid could soon face the same choice if Congress chooses […]
Report: Federal Exchange A Comparative Bargain
Sometimes there really are economies of scale. And the nation’s health insurance exchanges may be a case in point. As rocky as its rollout was, it cost the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, an average of $647 of federal tax dollars to sign up each enrollee, according to a new report. It cost an average of $1,503 […]
California’s Small Business Health Insurance Exchange Off To Slow Start
The program, which provides subsidies to businesses with fewer than 25 employees, has been beset by delays and technical problems. “It’s absolutely making me crazy,” says one frustrated business owner.
Castellani: Health Law’s Cost-Sharing Could Limit Patient Access To Prescription Drugs
Enrollees in some of the health law’s most popular plans will face high cost-sharing requirements that the pharmaceutical industry says could keep patients from getting the drugs they need. Most silver plans in the online marketplaces, or exchanges, require patients to pay for prescription drugs as part of the plan’s deductible, while nearly all bronze plans do, according […]
Hospitals Boost Patient Safety, But More Work Is Needed
Readmissions and patient injuries decrease as new government programs take effect.
Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers To Insurance Exchanges
The idea, which could save companies big money, is stirring interest and concern.