Latest KFF Health News Stories
Community Health Centers – In Every State – Get Obamacare Outreach Funds
The nation’s community health centers — which treat the poor and uninsured– apparently know a good deal when they see one. Nearly all 1,200 federally funded community health centers applied for and will be getting a piece of $150 million in federal health law money to enroll patients in new online health insurance marketplaces starting Oct.1. Federal health officials on […]
Small-Town Clinic Provides Care To A Farming Community’s Poor
Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center operates seven family clinics in four rural counties to fill the gap for rural patients.
How Oregon Is Getting ‘Frequent Flyers’ Out Of Hospital ERs
The state is trying to reduce health care costs by encouraging those who constantly turn up at the ER to get their health care from regular doctors instead.
Hospital In Rural Missouri Faces Tough Challenges
The Affordable Care Act’s success or failure will depend in large part on the efforts of rural hospitals such as Poplar Bluff to treat the poor.
Study: Competition, Not Need, Drives Hospital Cardiac Care Investment
U.S. hospitals spent up to $4 billion adding angioplasty services over a four year period, but the new services did little to improve access to timely medical care, says a study published Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Between 2004 to 2008, some 251 hospitals added the invasive and often life-saving cardiac […]
Medicare Advantage Plans Cut Total Cardio Procedures, But Regional Variations Remain
Call them bundled payments, medical homes, capitation or accountable care, new versions of managed care (think HMOs in the 1990s) are health care’s great cost control hope. Researchers publishing in the latest JAMA tested that idea by counting procedures in one of the biggest managed care programs of all: Medicare Advantage plans for seniors. One […]
Current Medicaid Patients Will Miss Out on Better Preventive Care In 2014
Some of the nation’s unhealthiest people aren’t likely to receive those benefits, because the requirements in the law pertain only to private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid expansion programs.
Some Doctors Questioning Whether Shorter Shifts For Interns Are Endangering Patients
The work day for doctors in their first year out of medical school was cut to 16 hours to reduce fatigue and medical errors. But recent studies suggest it may be making the situation worse.
In Addition To Premium Credits, Health Law Offers Some Consumers Help Paying Deductibles And Co-Pays
Although much has been made about the tax credits that will help people afford to pay insurance premiums, the cost-sharing assistance can substantially reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Researchers Look At Why Poor Patients Prefer Hospital Care
Long wait times, jammed schedules, confusing insurance plans – there’s no shortage of obstacles between a patient and her doctor. That is, if she has a doctor. But a Health Affairs study published Monday says the barriers for poor people looking to get care are even higher, and it’s leading them away from preventive doctor […]
Health Exchange Pitch To Sports Fans Started In Fenway
The Red Sox helped get the word out about Massachusetts’ health reform in 2007, and in Colorado at least, the state is marketing its new insurance exchange to fans of the Rockies.
Video: New AMA President On Implementing The Health Law
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=313701-1 KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and The Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff interviewed Dr. Ardis Hoven, the new American Medical Association president, for an episode of the C-SPAN program “Newsmakers” that aired Sunday. The three talked about implementation of the health care law, a shortage of primary care practitioners, as well as the AMA’s decision to […]
How Baby Erik Got Health Insurance
It took his parents 86 phone calls and six months to get their newborn enrolled in a Pennsylvania program for children.
National Health Plans, Designed To Spur Competition, May Be Unavailable In Some States Next Year
The federal health law requires two plans in every state, but few insurers are lining up to play.
Advocates Urge More Government Oversight Of Medicaid Managed Care
The health law’s expansion of Medicaid is putting a spotlight on how regulators monitor the performance of privately-run plans.
A Busy ER Doctor Slows Down To Help Patients Cope With Pain
After 20 years as a busy ER doctor, Linda Smith now finds satisfaction guiding patients through treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
FAQ: What Workers And Employers Need To Know About The Postponed Employer Mandate
Companies with at least 50 workers now have until 2015 to provide coverage. Here’s what that change means – and doesn’t mean – for employees and employers.
AMA To Do ‘Whatever We Can’ To Help Carry Out Health Law
The American Medical Association will do “whatever we can in our power” to help implement the 2010 health care law, the group’s president said Tuesday. In an interview taped for C-SPAN’s Newsmakers, Ardis Dee Hoven, who became the AMA’s 168th president last month, said the White House has not approached her or the AMA directly […]
Lawmakers to NY Docs: Screen All Baby Boomers for Deadly Liver Disease
The New York legislature passed a bill that would make the state the first in the nation requiring doctors to offer the hepatitis C test to anyone born between 1945 and 1965.
Delay In Major Health Law Provision Raises Doubts At Critical Stage Of Rollout
The decision to give large employers an extra year to cover their workers was praised by business leaders but complicates the implementation.