Latest KFF Health News Stories
Doctor Groups Unite Against Unnecessary Tests & Procedures
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Doctors do stuff — tests, procedures, drug regimens and operations. It’s what they’re trained to do, what they’re paid to do and often what they fear not doing. So it’s pretty significant that a broad array of medical specialty groups is issuing an expanding list of don’ts […]
Dartmouth Study Questions Widely Used Risk-Adjustment Methods
In evaluating a hospital and health plan in the increasingly expensive U.S. health care system, federal officials and researchers often first factor in an assessment of how sick their patients are. A new study, however, challenges the validity of several widely used “risk-adjustment” efforts and suggests that Medicare is overpaying some plans and facilities while […]
Hospitals Clamp Down On Dangerous Early Elective Deliveries
Pressure from insurers, employers and advocacy groups is finally reducing rates of elective deliveries before 39 weeks.
Waiver In Hand, Florida’s Rick Scott Backs Medicaid Expansion
Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that he would back expansion of the Medicaid program under the federal health law. At a hastily-called press conference, Scott, a Republican, said he supported expanding Medicaid for three years — the amount of time the federal government picks up the whole cost. “Expanding access to Medicaid services for three […]
Feds Outline What Insurers Must Cover, Down To Polyp Removal
The Obama administration on Wednesday released its final rule on essential health benefits, which sets out what benefits insurers must offer starting in 2014. Insurers must cover 10 broad categories of care, including emergency services, maternity care, hospital and doctors’ services, mental health and substance abuse care and prescription drugs. Essential benefit requirements apply mainly to […]
In Arizona, Poorest, Sickest Patients Get Coordinated Care
Can for-profit health insurance companies be trusted to take care of the vulnerable, expensive patients who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid? In Arizona, a state that has been known to resist federal health programs, private companies have been doing just that for many years.
Hospitals Hook Up With Drugstore Giants To Lower Readmissions
Patients who leave the hospital only to have to be readmitted within a few weeks cost U.S. taxpayers more than $17 billion a year. In October, the federal government started cracking down on hospitals, penalizing them if too many of their patients bounce back. That has hospitals searching for help from the corner drug store […]
Nurse Practitioners Push To Help Care For Health Law’s Newly Insured
In a KHN interview, David Hebert, CEO of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, says lawmakers should allow advanced practice nurses to practice more independently to make sure the nation’s 27 million newly covered will be able to get timely and quality care.
Pressure Rising To Avoid Federal Spending Cuts That Will Impact Health Programs
Although Medicare and Medicaid will be largely unscathed in the March 1 sequestration, other health-related efforts including medical research, mental health treatments and drug approvals face reductions.
Big Firms Win Multimillion Dollar Contracts To Build Insurance Marketplaces
President Barack Obama’s health law has been criticized as a “government takeover” of health care. But private companies are building the underpinnings of the online health insurance marketplaces that are a key element of the law – and winning contracts worth hundreds of millions to do so. Deloitte Consulting, part of the Big Four accounting […]
Today Few Public Family Planning Centers Accept Insurance
Most women can expect to get contraceptives without paying out of pocket for them thanks to the federal Affordable Care Act. Women who are young or those who are poor and rely on publicly funded family planning centers for reproductive health services are covered, too. But there’s a catch. Many of the state and local health departments, […]
Walmart Health Screening Stations Touted As Part Of ‘Self-Service Revolution’
The kiosks are part of a technology boom targeted at consumers seeking instant health data and cheaper, more convenient care.
New Coverage May Spur Younger Women To Use Long-Acting Contraceptives
The health law specifies that birth control is a covered service in many plans ending the burden of a high up-front cost for IUDs and hormonal implants.
Cancer Rehab Begins To Bridge A Gap For Patients
STAR, a program designed to offer cancer survivors rehabilitation therapy after treatment, is growing, as is research showing that many of the quality-of-life problems cancer survivors have are physical and can be helped with rehab.
Health Technology’s ‘Essential Critic’ Warns Of Medical Mistakes
“We’re in the midst of a mania right now,” Dr. Scot Silverstein warns, speaking of the race to adopt electronic health records. “We know it causes harm, and we don’t even know the level of magnitude. That statement alone should be the basis for the greatest of caution and slowing down.”
As Hospital Challenges Rise, Their Bond Ratings Fall
Nonprofit hospitals don’t issue stock, so you can’t track their financial health by the ups and downs of share prices. But many sell bonds, and it’s fair to say that hospital bonds haven’t fared as well recently as the Dow Jones average. Last year set a record for hospital-bond downgrades, as debt levels rose and hospitals faced the […]
Federal Government To Run Insurance Marketplaces In Half The States
Friday deadline passes and states largely bypass the option to work with the federal government in setting up new online health insurance marketplaces that open for business Oct. 1.
Feds Increase Costs To High-Risk Pool Members
The Obama administration has increased costs for about 38,000 people enrolled in high-risk insurance pools run under the federal health law to prevent the program from running out of money. The pools, which started in 2010, will expire at the end of the year when new rules prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing […]
Valentine’s Day Surprise: Senate Democrats Blast Obamacare Implementation
Senate Democrats on Thursday showed little love to the Obama administration for how it is implementing the federal health law. Testifying before the powerful Senate Finance Committee, the administration’s top regulator on new health exchanges encountered criticism from several Democrats who helped push through the 2010 federal health overhaul — among them Chairman Max Baucus of […]
San Diego Hospice Will Close As Financial Problems Grow
San Diego Hospice, one of the nation’s oldest and busiest, is closing its doors permanently in response to financial problems stemming from an investigation of its practices by Medicare. The hospice announced last week that it planned to file for bankruptcy. On Wednesday, San Diego Hospice said it would cease operating in the next 60 […]