Latest KFF Health News Stories
Democrats, Republicans Clash Over Health Care Savings
Leaders from each chamber of Congress have competing budget proposals that seek savings in health spending. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about what’s next for the proposals and what President Obama could offer.
Readers responded to stories including a profile of patient safety advocate Regina Holliday; a story about that gap that often prevents cancer patients from getting rehabilitation services; an interview with the CEO of the American College of Nurse Practitioners; coverage of San Diego Hospice’s bankruptcy; and a piece about a fight brewing in Washington, D.C., over nurse-staffing issues.
Difference In What Medicare Spends On Cancer Care May Not Affect Survival Rates
Although Medicare spending for patients with advance cancers varies regionally, a new study suggests that those differences are not related to survival rates. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, examined Medicare spending on patients with advanced lung, colorectal, pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancers. Cancer care costs account for approximately 10 […]
Consumers Don’t View Curbing Costs As Their Job When Choosing Treatments, Study Finds
Researcher says she and colleagues were “surprised at how firmly and frequently people talked about not wanting cost considerations to factor into decision-making at all.”
Mississippi Legislature Passes ‘Anti-Bloomberg’ Bill
Mayor Mike and his public health edicts are having a rough ride. On Monday, a state judge in Manhattan knocked down the rule capping soda sizes that Mayor Michael Bloomberg championed. (Here’s a PDF of that ruling.) Lawmakers in Mississippi are taking things one step further. A bill on the governor’s desk would bar counties and […]
Q&A: I Have A Pre-Existing Condition, Where Can I Get Health Insurance?
Consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about insurance options for people with pre-exisiting conditions.
Osteopath Aims Approach At Filling Primary Care Gap
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.
Osteopathic Physicians: An Answer To Rural Health Care Needs?
The growing number of osteopathic doctors could help fill the primary care niche in medically underserved areas.
The Mainstreaming Of Osteopathic Medicine
For years, osteopathic physicians were viewed differently than their medical-doctor counterparts, but this distinction is disappearing.
Health Care Cuts From Vaccinations To Research
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
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
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?
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 […]
Minnesota Senate Passes Exchange Bill
Much of the 12 hours of debate focused on whether or not industry officials could serve on the exchange’s board of directors.
Health Insurers See Big Opportunities In Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid managed care plans prepare for as many as 10 million new members in 2014– and billions in additional revenue.
Idaho, Utah, N.M. Running Out Of Time To Set Up State Exchanges
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
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 […]
Medicaid Expansion Divides Florida GOP
House speaker talks about his family’s reliance on “safety net” help when he was young, but he still opposes health law’s new Medicaid funding.
Why N.Y. City ER Doctors Won’t Write That Painkiller Prescription
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 […]
N.C. Medicaid Director: ‘We Want Bold Proposals’
Tar Heel State will not be expanding Medicaid. Carol Steckel explains that before the state can contemplate expanding the program, “We’ve got to clean up internally.”