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Latest KFF Health News Stories

Osteopath Aims Approach At Filling Primary Care Gap

KFF Health News Original

Dr. Valerie Goodman, an osteopathic doctor, explains osteopathic medicine and how it influences how she delivers patient-centered care at her practice in rural Centreville, Md.

Health Care Cuts From Vaccinations To Research

KFF Health News Original

Sequestration’s cuts will likely affect how low-income Americans get maternal care, vaccinate their children and get treatment for mental illness, even if the cuts largely spare Medicare and Medicaid.

GOP Senators Seek To Cut Health Law Funding

KFF Health News Original

Add Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to the list of lawmakers who wants to cut funding for the 2010 health care law as part of the debate over government funding  for the remainder of the fiscal year. In an interview with radio show host Hugh Hewitt, Rubio said he’ll support legislation to fund the government through Sept. 30 […]

What’s The Price? Simple Question, Complicated Answer In Medicare

KFF Health News Original

I wrote to Medicare a while back, asking for a price. I know nothing is simple in the world of health care costs, but I just needed one number, a number Medicare uses all the time, I supposed, to calculate payments to doctors and hospitals. Here’s what I wanted to know: How much does Medicare […]

A Bump In The Road To Accountable Care?

KFF Health News Original

The Pioneer accountable care organizations have long been the shining stars of the Affordable Care Act’s strategy to rein in the country’s out-of-control spending on health care. The 32 organizations are part of a Medicare pilot project called for in the health law that could revolutionize the health system by paying doctors and hospitals for […]

Idaho, Utah, N.M. Running Out Of Time To Set Up State Exchanges

KFF Health News Original

Three western states which had gotten tentative go-aheads to run their own online health insurance websites — Utah, Idaho and New Mexico — are running out of time to be ready for an Oct. 1  launch and experts doubt they will get green lights from the federal government. “We are not seeing enough progress that these states can easily […]

House Spending Bill Cuts Funding For Exchanges

KFF Health News Original

You don’t hear much these days about Republicans trying to repeal the 2010 health care law. The Supreme Court ruling last June upheld most of the measure. President Obama’s re-election and Democrats’ continued control of the Senate have helped “Obamacare” implementation to move ahead. But there is one way to slow things down: use the power […]

Why N.Y. City ER Doctors Won’t Write That Painkiller Prescription

KFF Health News Original

This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Early this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said public hospitals there would take steps to reduce overdoses and abuse of opioid painkillers. The drugs have become a public health problem. Narcotic painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, are involved in more than 16,000 overdose deaths […]

Got A Health Care Puzzle? There Should Be An App!

KFF Health News Original

Kansas City, Mo., is looking to boost its health-tech cred. So the city that’s home to Cerner Corp. and other health information firms seemed a natural to host something called the Hackovate Health Innovation Competition. A mashup of innovation and old-school hacking (in its benign sense), the goal of the competition was to improve the nation’s […]