Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 16, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports detailing the Obama administration’s deadline extention — now until Dec. 14 — for states to decide how they want to proceed with the health law’s insurance exchanges. The New York Times: Senate ‘Gang Of 8’ Says this Isn’t Its Moment In Deficit Talks After […]
Mississippi Builds Exchange Despite Objections Of Governor, Tea Party
The Mississippi Insurance Department officially told the federal government that it will run its own health insurance exchange and plans to file the exchange blueprint Friday. If the state had not set up an insurance exchange, which is an online marketplace for comparison shopping for health insurance called for by the health overhaul law, the […]
Survey: Most U.S. Primary Care Docs Using EMRs
U.S. doctors are no longer the laggards when it comes to using health information technology in their practices. But they are still more weighed down by paperwork and health care costs than many of their Western counterparts. A survey of nearly 8,500 primary care doctors in ten of the world’s wealthiest countries took a new look […]
Administration Expected to Release Many New Rules For Health Law Shortly
Among the highly anticipated announcements are regulations on the new state insurance exchanges, taxes for medical devices, funding for hospitals treating the uninsured and insurance coverage for contraception.
All The Newly Single (Uninsured) Ladies
Divorce is usually a painful exercise in splitting up assets. But for many women, it also means losing health insurance protection. A study released this week from the University of Michigan reveals that roughly 115,000 American women lose their private health insurance annually after a divorce and about half of them do not get replacement coverage. […]
Obama Administration Extends Deadline For State Exchanges — Again
Bowing to a request from Republican governors, the Obama administration announced late Thursday that it would give states more time to decide whether to build online insurance markets that will help millions of people buy health coverage starting next fall.
Feds Say Nursing Homes Overbilled Medicare By $1.5 Billion
Nursing home group lashes out at government report, saying “bureaucrats” don’t know what’s good for patients.
Fiscal Cliff: What Is At Stake For Medicare And Medicaid?
Jackie Judd talks to KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey about the budget negotiation scenarios for Medicare, where the “doc fix” fits into the budget picture, and whether Medicaid cuts are possible.
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 15, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest details on states’ decisions about pursuing health exchanges as well as other political and policy developments. The Wall Street Journal: At President’s Meeting With Executives, Some Push, Pull And Give President Barack Obama’s meeting with top chief executives Wednesday included a frank exchange […]
Providers File The Bulk Of Medicare Appeals
Health care providers who appealed to Medicare judges won more often than patients did, according to a report by the inspector general at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hospitals, physicians, medical equipment suppliers and other providers also filed 85 percent of the cases decided by the administrative law judges in fiscal […]
Hospitals, Home Health Care Services Lobby Against Cuts In Deficit Deal
As lawmakers and President Barack Obama discuss possible changes to federal entitlement programs as part of a larger deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, expect provider groups to make their case loud and clear: Don’t cut us. The American Hospital Association is circulating a list of alternatives that are well-known and included in other deficit-reduction […]
States Count Down To Decisions On Health Exchanges
With time running out, 17 states and D.C. commit to setting up the new markets, eight are undecided and the rest weigh partnering with the federal government — or letting the feds take over.
Progressive Group Recommends $385 Billion In Health Cuts
Hospitals, drug companies, nursing homes and health plans would lose billions in Medicare funding over the next decade under a budget deficit cutting plan recommended by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank which has close ties to President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. But officials at the center say their […]
Employer Health Costs Rise 4 Percent, Lowest Increase Since 1997
Furnishing new evidence of slower growth in health costs, consulting firm Mercer said Wednesday that employers spent 4.1 percent more on health benefits this year than in 2011. It was the smallest increase in 15 years. One reason, but probably not the only one: Employers shifted costs to workers through higher deductibles. Nearly 60 percent of very large employers (more than 20,000 workers) […]
Computer Issues May Hamper Online Insurance Markets
Cascading delays related to technical issues could make October 2013 target for open enrollment difficult, if not impossible, to meet.
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 14, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details about how lines are being drawn regarding the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations. The New York Times: Obama Vows Firm Stance On Deficit-Reduction Plan President Obama reassured leaders of labor and progressive groups on Tuesday that he will not yield to Congressional Republicans and extend Bush-era […]
Colorado’s New Element In Exchange Plan: Certainty
The outcome of last week’s election means Colorado’s home-grown insurance exchange is green-lighted.
Avoiding The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Likely Means Changes In Medicare
Congress would probably look for cuts in the health care program for seniors and the disabled as it seeks to find ways to curb federal spending.
Health Law Was A Wash In The Election, Poll Finds
After two years of noise and stridency on the 2010 health care law, the Affordable Care Act ended up being a wash in the presidential election, a new poll finds. Both President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney ended up getting equal support among voters who said the law was a “major factor” in their vote for president, […]
U.S. Lowering Rate Of Premature Births, But Slowly
The United States is slowly reducing its rate of premature births, bringing the rate to 11.7 percent in 2011, but the figure is still higher than public health advocates believe it should be. The updated figures come from The March of Dimes, a non-profit group that works to improve the health of mothers and babies, […]