Latest KFF Health News Stories
Can They Do That? Rules For Pricing Spousal Coverage
Michelle Andrews answers a reader’s question about employers who charge a different premium to cover a spouse who has coverage available through his or her own job.
FAQ On The Latest Study: Obamacare’s Impact On Insurance Claim Costs
The Society of Actuaries is predicting that because of the health law, on average, insurers will have to pay 32 percent more for claims by 2017. What does that mean for consumers?
Tight Medicaid Eligibility Leads To More Adults Delaying Care
Hidalgo is a county in southern Texas just across the Rio Grande from Mexico. It’s also home to the highest prevalence of U.S. adults – about 40 percent of the population– delaying necessary medical care because of cost, according to data in the March 28 New England Journal of Medicine. The research letter in the March 28 […]
Audit Finds Shortcomings In Minn. Verifications Of Income, Other Information
An audit released Tuesday shows Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has not been adequately verifying the eligibility of participants in some of its public assistance programs. Such verifications are a requirement of state and federal law, and the legislative auditor says his office first alerted the department to some of the problems more than a decade ago. […]
A Bridge To Health — And Away From ER Overuse
There are patients in almost every hospital emergency room who do not need urgent care. They are there because they don’t have health insurance or a regular physician, or they didn’t know what else to do. Often, they are repeat visitors. It’s a problem that leads to emergency department overuse and contributes to spiraling health […]
Economic Changes Hurt The Bottom Line For Rural Ga. Hospitals
To save money, some cut procedures, such as labor and delivery services, but a growing number are forced to close.
Arkansas Medicaid Plan, Born Of Necessity, Shakes Things Up
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Since the Supreme Court made the Medicaid expansion under the federal health law optional last year, states’ decisions have largely split along party lines. States run by Democrats have been opting in; states run by Republicans have mostly been saying no or holding back. But now Arkansas – at the […]
Slow Progress On Efforts To Pay Docs, Hospitals For ‘Value,’ Not Volume
Consortium of large employers says that only 10.9 percent of employers’ health spending is based on value-based payment.
Temp Agencies See Opportunity In Health Law
Some employers — worried about the cost of health coverage — are eyeing staffing agencies to fill jobs. But these arrangements could leave gaps in the health law’s expanded coverage.
Large Companies Are Increasingly Offering Workers Only High Deductible Health Plans
Firms with 1,000 employees or more once offered a variety of coverage options, but a recent survey found nearly 15 percent today provide simply these plans and a savings account for medical expenses.
Connecticut Races To Reach Uninsured, Open Health Insurance Marketplace
Officials hope to ‘make history’ by signing up two-thirds of those without coverage after the marketplaces launch nationwide Oct. 1.
Officials Unveil More Details Of Colo. Exchange Funding
A week after approving a tax on health insurance policies, Colorado officials are offering more details of their plans to fund the state’s health insurance exchange after federal backing runs out in 2014. Last week the state’s exchange board approved, with broad support, a 1.4 percent fee on all policies sold in the exchange. This […]
Doctors Eager For Evidence About Integrated Health Systems
Doctors say they are finding more opportunities in the integrated health systems that have been touted in the federal health law, such as accountable care organizations, which are groups of health providers and hospitals that work together to improve patient care and lower costs. But they are still hesitant to change their practices without more evidence […]
IOM Panel Raises Concerns About Lowering Medicare Pay For High Spending Areas
The report suggests that cutting payments in areas that pay more per beneficiary, such as Manhattan and Florida, could hit hospitals and doctors who are not providing expensive care.
Ohio, Arkansas May Provide New Model For Insuring Low-Income Residents
Other states are watching as the federal government appears likely to allow the two states to use federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private coverage on their insurance exchanges.
Who Are The Uninsured? The Feds Parse The Numbers
There are 48.4 million uninsured Americans — about 18 percent of the population — according to the last Census. But who are they? And what is the best way to get them signed up for new health insurance coverage options that roll out this fall? The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has just released […]
From The State Capitals: The ACA At Three
Reporters on the ground in Colorado, Florida and Minnesota discuss the most significant developments to happen in their states since the law’s passage and what future challenges they see ahead.
In The Emergency Department, Gunshot Fatalities Often ‘Hard To Forget’
While some emergency department doctors take strong positions against guns, others maintain that the first defense is keeping firearms out of the hands of people who are mentally ill.
Some Medical Students Seek A Match For Two
More than 17,000 fourth-year medical students found out where they’ll be completing the final years of their medical education on “Match Day” last Friday. But unlike most of their peers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, John Zampella and Matthew Huddle weren’t focused on where they’ll be doing their medical residency training. Instead, […]
Minnesota Governor Signs Bill Creating Health Insurance Marketplace
Starting in October, more than a million Minnesotans, including 300,000 uninsured, are expected to shop and sign up for health plans using the exchange, named MNSURE.