Latest KFF Health News Stories
Opposition To Medicaid Expansion In Texas House Has Caveats
Republicans in the Texas House agreed not to expand Medicaid, but left the door open to doing so if the Obama administration grants the state enough flexibility.
Access To Primary Care Is A Challenge For Some Texas Medicare Patients
The annual congressional battles over the “doc fix” and the threat of lower reimbursements have left some Texas doctors insecure and unwilling to take on more Medicare patients.
Caveat For Contraceptive Coverage; Early Retirees May Get Cheaper Plans On Exchanges
Columnist answers readers’ questions about birth control provisions and subsidized coverage on state-based insurance marketplaces.
Hospitals Crack Down On Tirades By Angry Doctors
For many years, hospitals were reluctant to address physicians who berated nurses, threw scalpels or demeaned co-workers. But increasingly such actions bring discipline.
C-Section Delivery Rates Vary Widely Across Nation
Rates of C-section deliveries vary widely across the nation, according to the findings of a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, found that the overall rates of C-sections — the most common type of surgery in the U.S. — varied from about 7 to 70 percent across the nation’s hospitals. […]
Prostate Screening Tests In Older Men Decline, But Many Still Get Them, Study Finds
Fewer men over age 75 are being routinely screened for cancer with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test following a 2008 recommendation against the tests, researchers said today, suggesting a less-is-more approach sometimes works. But while the numbers have declined, they remain significant – more than 4 in 10 men in that group still get the […]
Florida House Panel Opposes Medicaid Expansion
The Florida House of Representatives has signaled it won’t go along with Gov. Rick Scott to expand Medicaid coverage to more than a million low-income Floridians under the Affordable Care Act. The party-line vote came Monday shortly after a joint committee hearing on the law’s financial impact on the state. Under the federal health care […]
Expert: Hospitals’ ‘Humongous Monopoly’ Drives Prices High
The American Enterprise Institute didn’t plan its panel last week on hospital consolidation to coincide with Steve Brill’s much-talked-about Time magazine article on hospital prices. But the Friday session could have taken the piece, Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us, as its text. Participants mentioned it several times. The basic message, delivered at the pro-markets […]
In New York, Palliative Care Adds A Layer Of Support For The Seriously Ill
A New York law passed last year ensures that everyone with “advanced life limiting conditions or illnesses who might benefit from palliative care” not only be informed of these services but also that the provider facilitate access to that care if they desire it.
Panel Calls For ‘Drastic Changes’ In Medicare Doctor Pay
A panel convened by a major medical group is recommending that Medicare heal its physician payment shortfalls with “drastic changes” in how it reimburses doctors and other providers, rather than seeking more taxpayer money. Medicare needs $138 billion over the next decade to avoid steep cuts in physician pay. Avoiding those cuts has become an […]
Nurse Practitioners Say How They’re Paid Affects Care They Can Provide
Many nurse practitioners say restrictive payment policies impact how they care for patients more than state laws governing what care they can give, according to a new study. In the study, published Thursday by the National Institute for Health Care Reform, researchers found that while so-called “scope of practice” laws did not appear to restrict […]
New Reasons To ‘Like’ Online Hospital Reviews
Millions of dollars and some of the best minds in health care have been devoted to measuring how good a hospital is. But two studies suggest users of two social media giants, Facebook and Yelp, may do a solid job of reflecting quality. The findings are particularly important as more people are turning to the […]
Mass. Weighs Governor’s Plan To Tax Candy And Soda
Are candy and soda food? In Massachusetts, candy and soda are considered food and are exempt from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. But Gov. Deval Patrick wants to change that. He’s proposing that the legislature tax every bag of M&M’s and bottle of Pepsi bought in the state. “Half of the people in the […]
Medical Research, FDA And Mental Health Programs Face Budget Bite
Federal funding for Medicaid is untouched but doctors, hospitals and other Medicare providers will see a 2 percent reduction.
Hospital Executive Bracing For Budget Cuts Says ‘We Need To Deal With Medicare’
David Blom, the president of OhioHealth, talks about the effects of sequestration and the need to find a long-term fiscal remedy.
Hospital Consolidation Dance Heats Up In NYC
The health care game of musical chairs is picking up speed in New York City, one of the most competitive markets in the country. The Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners announced Thursday that their boards of trustees have reached a tentative agreement on a possible merger. The announcement comes less than nine months after Continuum, which […]
Tenet Shows Hospitals Will Cut Prices For Exchange Patients — But Only So Much
How much will hospitals reduce prices in an effort to win what are expected to be millions of newly insured patients under the Affordable Care Act? A little, not a lot, if deals disclosed this week by Tenet Healthcare are any indication. The Dallas-based hospital chain told analysts that its first contracts to treat patients buying policies in the ACA’s online marketplaces […]
Some States Will Rate Health Plans On Quality This Fall
Beginning in October, some states will score health plans on cancer screening rates and flu shot delivery, among other measures, to help consumers make smarter buying decisions.
Messaging Your Doctor? There’s An App For That
Last year Dr. Michael Nusbaum introduced a mobile application in an effort to make scheduling a medical appointment as easy as sending a Facebook message to a friend, and as safe as sharing your medical information in person at the doctor’s office. The New Jersey-based surgeon said he designed MedXCom “to bring doctor-patient communication to the twenty-first […]
FAQ On Medicare Doctor Pay: Why Is It So Hard To Fix?
A bipartisan House bill and an effort by GOP leaders seek to stop the threats of drastic cuts each year.