Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
Need A Doc? These Companies Will Hook You Up In A Hurry
Online firms offer concierge medical services to middle-class subscribers including speedy referrals and a helping hand through the red tape.
Chemo Costs In U.S. Driven Higher By Shift To Hospital Outpatient Facilities
The price of cancer drugs has doubled in the past decade, with the average brand-name cancer drug in the U.S. costing $10,000 for a month’s supply, up from $5,000 in 2003, according to a new report by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a health information, services and technology company. And those are just average prices; […]
For Asian Immigrants, ACA Coverage Contains Mysteries
In navigating the health law, Asian immigrants in Philadelphia, find that the obstacles can be both cultural and political.
Health Law Requires Medicare To Cover Dementia Evaluation
But an influential panel of experts says there isn’t enough evidence to recommend screening tests for the public.
More Health Insurance Equals Fewer Deaths In Massachusetts
Fewer people died in Massachusetts after the state required people to have health insurance, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health. In each of the first four years of the state law, 320 fewer Massachusetts men and women died than would have been expected. That’s one life extended for every 830 newly […]
Colorado Redraws ACA Map To Cut Sky-High Ski Town Rates
Relief is in sight – and it won’t involve a lawsuit – for the four counties in Colorado that have the highest Obamacare health insurance premiums in the country. Local officials in the ski resort region in the mountains west of Denver had threatened to sue over the high rates. But on Friday Colorado Insurance Commissioner […]
Hospitals’ Purchase Of Doctors Leads To Higher Prices, Spending, Study Finds
A new study gives ammunition to what health economists and health insurers have argued for years: When hospitals buy physician practices, the result is usually higher hospital prices and increased spending by privately insured patients. The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, was based on an analysis of 2.1 million hospital claims from workers […]
Study: Illegal Immigration Doesn’t Cause Overuse Of Health Care
Even before the Affordable Care Act was close to passing, it was clear that immigrants illegally living in the country would not be part of many of the law’s benefits. They are not allowed to buy health insurance from the online marketplaces, at least in part because opponents argued that these immigrants overburden emergency rooms and hospitals. But a study released […]