Latest KFF Health News Stories
Cholesterol Guidelines Could Mean Statins For Half Of Adults Over 40
This story was produced in collaboration with When sweeping new advice on preventing heart attacks and strokes came out last November, it wasn’t clear how many more Americans should be taking daily statin pills to lower their risk. A new analysis provides an answer: a whole lot. Nearly 13 million more, to be precise. If the […]
Justices To Weigh Contraceptive Mandate Against Religious Freedom Claims
Two businesses are challenging the health law’s birth control coverage requirement on religious freedom grounds.
Doctors Say Obamacare Rule Will Stick Them With Unpaid Bills
If a patient falls behind on premiums, insurers can hold off paying their doctor bills, and deny them altogether if the patient fails to make good.
10 States Are Critical To Administration’s Efforts To Enroll 6 Million In New Health Plans
Reaching that number might give Democrats bragging rights and make it more likely that state pools are big enough to keep down premiums.
Mass. To Drop Contractor Behind Flawed Health Insurance Website
Massachusetts is negotiating an end to its contract with CGI, the Canadian vendor that built the state’s flawed health insurance website while scrambling to fix it. The site was supposed to be up last October, offering one-stop health insurance shopping for anyone in Massachusetts. But six months later, only a few functions work but have […]
What You Need To Know As Health Care Deadline Looms
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey was on NPR’s Tell Me More program Tuesday talking about the upcoming deadline for many Americans to buy health insurance or face a fine. Listen below:
Some Young People Won’t Get Tax Help for Obamacare Insurance
A new study shows that younger people in eight cities who make more than about $32,000 a year won’t get tax credits to help pay for insurance premiums.
Colorado Health Exchange Workers Paid More Than Similar Positions In Three Other States
Nearly half of the employees of Colorado’s health care exchange make more than $80,000 per year — outpacing peers in several states.
Local Control Key To Colorado Exchange’s (Moderate) Success
Being an early adopter can be rewarding. Remember how amazing it was to have the first iPhone? But then, sometimes early adopters pay a price, like that early version of the Apple map tool that led to some wrong turns. Colorado is one of 14 states going through their own version of this with the […]
Warning: Opting Out Of Your Insurance Plan’s Provider Network Is Risky
Out-of-pocket spending limits and some other safeguards in the health law may not apply.
Can Congress Put An End To Annual Medicare Payment Ritual?
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Congress is still searching for money to avoid a 24 percent cut in pay for doctors who treat Medicare patients. But seniors are already paying their share of the cost in premiums, as if the pay cut — scheduled to kick in on April 1 — […]
Hispanic Outreach Group Slow To Enroll Uninsured In Miami-Dade
A Washington-based group won a $646,000 grant to sign up Miami-Dade Hispanics for Obamacare, but its lack of local ties and a slow start has hindered its success.
Sebelius Pushes Lagging Enrollment In Ohio
CLEVELAND – At a health center here Friday, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Ohio is off to a “decent start” on health insurance enrollment. With two weeks left before open enrollment ends under the Affordable Care Act, 79,000 Ohioans have selected a plan on the federally run insurance exchange. “We’ve got some […]
Thousands Of Young California Immigrants Eligible For Coverage — Though Often They Don’t Know It
State is one of a few nationally to offer insurance to low-income youths whose parents crossed the border illegally or overstayed visas.
HHS Says Insurers’ Coverage For Same-Sex Spouses Must Match Other Married Couples
Insurers can’t offer health coverage to a spouse in a traditional marriage if they don’t also make the same coverage available to spouses in same-sex marriages, the federal government announced Friday. The change means that same-sex married couples who have been unable to buy family policies will be able to do so. The guidance, presented in an FAQ […]
Federal High Risk Pools Extended For A Month
Participants in the federal high-risk pool created in the health law will have another month to find coverage, the Obama administration announced Friday. In a notice posted on the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan website, officials announced that program enrollees who have not yet purchased coverage through the health law’s online marketplaces, or exchanges, could keep […]
California Marketplace Still Lags in Signing Up Latinos and Young Adults
With just a few weeks remaining before the March 31 enrollment deadline, California has signed up more than 923,000 people in its new insurance marketplace—more than a fifth of the national tally, officials announced Wednesday. But the state’s success story continues to be marred by slow progress in reaching Latinos and young people in general, […]
A Reader Asks: Would An IRA Withdrawal Count As Income For Exchange Subsidies?
KHN’s consumer columnist responds to a reader who is living off savings and wants to find a way to qualify for subsidies on the health insurance marketplace.
Insurers May Get Cost Break Thanks To Rocky ACA Rollout
The Obama administration keeps changing the rules on implementing the Affordable Care Act. Insurance companies keep complaining. But they’re unlikely to grouse about the latest adjustment. On Tuesday the Department of Health and Human Services signaled its intention to temporarily give insurers a break on the portion of premiums they must spend on medical care […]
Lawmakers Weigh Changes To Medicare
The House this week held a hearing on payment shifts in Medicare Advantage plans and has scheduled a vote Friday on a proposal to revamp the system for paying doctors. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss the issues.