Latest KFF Health News Stories
GOP Senators Seek To Cut Health Law Funding
Add Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to the list of lawmakers who wants to cut funding for the 2010 health care law as part of the debate over government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. In an interview with radio show host Hugh Hewitt, Rubio said he’ll support legislation to fund the government through Sept. 30 […]
What’s The Price? Simple Question, Complicated Answer In Medicare
I wrote to Medicare a while back, asking for a price. I know nothing is simple in the world of health care costs, but I just needed one number, a number Medicare uses all the time, I supposed, to calculate payments to doctors and hospitals. Here’s what I wanted to know: How much does Medicare […]
A Bump In The Road To Accountable Care?
The Pioneer accountable care organizations have long been the shining stars of the Affordable Care Act’s strategy to rein in the country’s out-of-control spending on health care. The 32 organizations are part of a Medicare pilot project called for in the health law that could revolutionize the health system by paying doctors and hospitals for […]
Minnesota Senate Passes Exchange Bill
Much of the 12 hours of debate focused on whether or not industry officials could serve on the exchange’s board of directors.
Health Insurers See Big Opportunities In Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid managed care plans prepare for as many as 10 million new members in 2014– and billions in additional revenue.
Idaho, Utah, N.M. Running Out Of Time To Set Up State Exchanges
Three western states which had gotten tentative go-aheads to run their own online health insurance websites — Utah, Idaho and New Mexico — are running out of time to be ready for an Oct. 1 launch and experts doubt they will get green lights from the federal government. “We are not seeing enough progress that these states can easily […]
House Spending Bill Cuts Funding For Exchanges
You don’t hear much these days about Republicans trying to repeal the 2010 health care law. The Supreme Court ruling last June upheld most of the measure. President Obama’s re-election and Democrats’ continued control of the Senate have helped “Obamacare” implementation to move ahead. But there is one way to slow things down: use the power […]
Medicaid Expansion Divides Florida GOP
House speaker talks about his family’s reliance on “safety net” help when he was young, but he still opposes health law’s new Medicaid funding.
Why N.Y. City ER Doctors Won’t Write That Painkiller Prescription
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Early this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said public hospitals there would take steps to reduce overdoses and abuse of opioid painkillers. The drugs have become a public health problem. Narcotic painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, are involved in more than 16,000 overdose deaths […]
N.C. Medicaid Director: ‘We Want Bold Proposals’
Tar Heel State will not be expanding Medicaid. Carol Steckel explains that before the state can contemplate expanding the program, “We’ve got to clean up internally.”
Minnesota Legislature Hammers Out Exchange Bill
Abortion restrictions passed the Democratic-majority House but could face a veto by Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. The state Senate takes up its exchange bill on Thursday.
Got A Health Care Puzzle? There Should Be An App!
Kansas City, Mo., is looking to boost its health-tech cred. So the city that’s home to Cerner Corp. and other health information firms seemed a natural to host something called the Hackovate Health Innovation Competition. A mashup of innovation and old-school hacking (in its benign sense), the goal of the competition was to improve the nation’s […]
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 […]