Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obamacare Outreach Is On Wheels In Mississippi
In Mississippi, as in the 35 other states where healthcare.gov is running the enrollment show, it hasn’t been easy to sign up for the health law’s new insurance options. That’s a political problem for Democrats and a personal problem for the uninsured — but it’s a business problem for the companies that are trying to […]
1.46 Million Determined To Be Eligible for Medicaid And CHIP In October
After two months of media shellacking, healthcare.gov website woes and a series of skeptical congressional grillings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was accentuating the positive, noting the jump in the number of people eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 1.46 million people were determined eligible for Medicaid or […]
Some Face Marriage Penalty In Obamacare Subsidies
Married couples earning over $62,000 are not eligible for subsidies they might have gotten as two single individuals.
Medicaid Expansion To Cover Many Former Prisoners
The Department of Justice estimates former inmates and detainees will comprise about 35 percent of the people who will qualify for Medicaid coverage in the states expanding their programs.
Attention Second Guessers: Even A Tech Giant Can Flub An Insurance Exchange
This story comes from our partner Oregon has spent more than $40 million to build its own online health care exchange. It gave that money to a Silicon Valley titan, Oracle, but the result has been a disaster of missed deadlines, a nonworking website and a state forced to process thousands of insurance applications on […]
Video: Problems Remain With Healthcare.gov Website
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey joined PBS NewsHour Monday to discuss the bug fixes to the federal health insurance marketplace and the problems that remain to be addressed. Watch the report in the video player above.
When Palliative Care Is The Best Care
A growing subspecialty that manages pain and stress for the seriously ill saves money, increases patient satisfaction and lengthens lives.
Many Wash. Health-Exchange Plans Exclude Top Hospitals From Coverage
Many insurers offering plans through the state’s exchange marketplace plan, Washington Healthplanfinder, have trimmed the include-all-providers networks in favor of more narrow plans.
Mental Health Parity Rule Clarifies Standards For Treatment Limits
Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law talks with KHN’s consumer columnist.
California’s Small Business Insurance SHOP Opens, A Contrast To Feds
Just a few days after the federal government delayed online enrollment, California announced better news for small businesses who want to buy health insurance. Businesses with up to 50 employees can begin signing up online for coverage through the state’s new marketplace, officials announced Monday. Last week, the federal department of Health and Human Services said that businesses in 36 […]
Consumer Data Errors, Other Bugs Reduced At Healthcare.gov, Administration Says
For the first time since its mangled Oct. 1 launch, users can now go to the federal government’s insurance enrollment website and get detailed information about the costs and benefits of health plans in their county without first enrolling. Before this week, the “window shopping” feature on healthcare.gov showed only average monthly premium prices until […]
How Is Healthcare.gov Performing Now?
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey was on NPR’s “Tell Me More” Monday morning to give an update on how the federal government’s troubled website for buying health insurance is performing. Officials said the site would be working for most people by Dec. 1 after a problem-plagued rollout in October kept many people from enrolling in coverage. […]
Many Consumers Report Improvements With Healthcare.gov
Vickie Fleisher-Gann had been trying since Oct. 1 to complete her Obamacare application so she could start shopping for insurance on healthcare.gov, but she kept getting stopped by error messages. With her policy expiring at the end of the year, she feared time was running out. On Sunday morning, the former Harrisburg, Pa., hospital administrator finally was able to […]
With Three Weeks Left, Consumers Fear They May End Up Without Health Coverage On New Year’s Day
Insurance marketplace malfunctions have left some eager consumers in limbo as deadline to enroll nears. “I’m praying to God,” one says.
Breaking Up With Healthcare.gov
Enrolling in healthcare.gov is not easy. In Alaska, just 53 people enrolled in the first month. Anchorage hair stylist Lara Imler is one of the few who got through. Now though, after she discovered problems with her application, Imler wants to cancel her enrollment. “I don’t even know how to feel about the whole thing […]
UnitedHealthcare Dropping Hundreds Of Doctors From Medicare Advantage Plans
The insurer has been notifying members about the network changes as the Dec. 7 deadline for choosing coverage for next year quickly approaches.
Covered California Faulted For Failing To Reach More Spanish Speakers
Dismal enrollment numbers in October spark cry for action.
Medicare Seeks To Curb Spending On Post-Hospital Care
One out of every six dollars Medicare spent in the traditional fee-for-service program went to nursing and therapy for patients in rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, long-term care hospitals and in their own homes.
Table: Medicare Spending By State And Category
One out of every five dollars Medicare spends goes to nursing homes, home health services or other post-acute facilities and services. The spending varies greatly between states: Louisiana spends 31 percent on post-acute services while Hawaii spends 12 percent.
The Iowa Insurance Challenge: Rural Outreach
DES MOINES, Iowa – Broadlawns Medical Center has been serving low-income residents here and the surrounding countryside for decades. And now, there’s a new aspect to its public hospital mission – offering people help to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. On a recent Saturday morning, Jerrine Sanford came half an hour […]