Latest KFF Health News Stories
Branding Health Insurance Exchanges To Make The Sale
Just the word “exchange” sounds to many like off-putting government-speak, so California, like many other states, is eager to come up with a more appealing name for these new marketplaces.
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 25, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new study that details accelerating health care spending. Los Angeles Times: Presidential Debate Questions Sync Up With Voter Concerns A new Pew Research Center polling analysis, released Monday, finds that the economy is voters’ dominant concern in this fall’s presidential election. An […]
Higher Prices By Hospitals, Other Providers, Drove 2011 Spending Increases, Study Finds
Spending on medical care for Americans with job-based insurance rose 4.6 percent last year, driven mainly by higher prices charged by hospitals and other medical providers, a report out today says. The growth came despite a sluggish economy which some economists thought would translate into more modest spending growth. Still, last year’s per enrollee increase ranks […]
Boom In Trauma Centers Can Help Save Lives, But At What Price?
More than 200 centers have opened since 2009, but experts raise concerns about cost and quality.
Health Plan Open Season Brings Rising Premiums And More Expensive Dependent Coverage
As employees review their health plan options for 2013, they can expect changes.
Study Links Longer Office Hours, Lower Health Care Costs
After primary care doctors close their doors on weekends and evenings, patients turn to urgent care facilities, pharmacy ‘minute clinics’, and emergency rooms to get the care they need. In doing so, they may also be contributing to the nation’s skyrocketing health system costs. “When a patient shows up in the emergency room, the assumption is […]
The Next Frontier For Elite Med Schools: Primary Care
Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is now one of the only top medical schools to offer family medicine as a specialty for its students.
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 24, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest health politics and policy news. The New York Times: Obama And Romney Offer A Possible Preview Of Their First Debate Mr. Romney said he would consider means-testing for Social Security benefits for future retirees, and he put some distance between his […]
NYC Study: Harlem Has Most ER ‘Super Users;’ Upper East Side, Fewest
About 20 percent of New York City residents visit hospital emergency rooms annually — and in some neighborhoods, the rate is twice that, according to a new report. The study by the United Hospital Fund found dramatic variations in ER use across the city, and it’s one of the first to analyze which people end […]
House Republicans Attack Obama Administration On Medicare Advantage
In this edition of Health on the Hill, KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey interviews CQ Roll Call’s Emily Ethridge about today’s House Ways and Means health subcommittee hearing on the health law’s cuts to the private Medicare Advantage program.
Obama, Ryan Offer Dueling Visions Of Medicare To AARP Members
Both candidates portray themselves as protectors of the popular entitlement program and argue their rivals’ plans would undermine it.
Romney Adviser’s Firm Says Most States Will Expand Medicaid — If Obama Is Re-Elected
The consulting firm headed by the man planning Mitt Romney’s White House transition –should there be one — says most states eventually will expand Medicaid under the health law, if President Barack Obama is re-elected. A report completed this week by Leavitt Partners, led by Romney adviser and former Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, noted the […]
Today’s Headlines – Sep. 21, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about recent polling results indicating that, despite GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s efforts to frame the Medicare debate, President Barack Obama still has the advantage on this issue. The Wall Street Journal: Headwinds For Romney In Latest Poll Results The three state surveys come […]
Bipartisan Report Focuses On Issues Driving Up Health Care Costs
Among the reasons behind the nation’s seemingly inexorable rise in medical spending are the practice of rewarding doctors and hospitals for volume rather than efficiency of care and the tax break given to consumers for their job-based health insurance, according to a report out Thursday from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington. […]
Is A Competitive Health Care Model All It’s Cracked Up To Be?
The track records of two programs often cited by Republican candidates suggest a more complicated picture.
Today’s Headlines — Sept. 20, 2012
NPR’s The Two-Way: Census: In 2011, Number Of Poor Americans Increased Young Americans are one of the first to feel the effects of the Affordable Care Act. … According to the Census, once young Americans aged 19 to 25 could be added to their parents’ plans, there was a 3.5 percent increase in the number […]
Q & A: Keeping Your Young Adult Child On Your Health Plan
Much of the time, even if the child is financially independent and has a job with insurance, the young adult can stay on the family plan.
Insurance Coverage Improves In 20 States, Census Shows
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HHS Touts Growth In Medicare Advantage Plans, Drop In Premiums
Just days away from a House hearing where Republicans are likely to charge that the 2010 health law’s cuts to Medicare Advantage plans will cause insurers to leave the program and seniors to pay more for coverage, the Obama administration said Wednesday that as a result of the law seniors now have more of these […]
Today’s Headlines – Sept. 19, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a series of reports detailing who makes up Romney’s so-called “47 percent” who get tax breaks and what federal assistance they receive — whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or another entitlement program. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Analysis: Romney Describes Government’s Role As Dramatically More Limited […]