Latest KFF Health News Stories
Head Of Community Health Center Group Critiques KHN Story
This letter, from Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers, is in response to Wednesday’s KHN story Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care.
Unusual Alliances Form In Nebraska’s Prenatal Care Debate
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. In Republican-dominated Nebraska, government leaders often line up together, but lately a political tornado has ripped through this orderly scene. A political showdown over taxpayer funding of prenatal care for illegal immigrants has produced some unusual political splits and alliances in the statehouse of the Cornhusker […]
Today’s Headlines – April 18, 2012
Good morning! Hold on to your coffee cups, here are your a.m. headlines to start your day off: Politico: Jobs, Funding Related To Health Care Law At Risk It’s likely that some in the health reform workforce would get reabsorbed into other Health and Human Services offices, where a number worked prior to the health […]
Video: Georgia Clinic Seeks To Meet Health Needs Of Many
Providing adequate primary care at Oakhurst Medical Center, a community health center in Georgia, is often hampered by language and cultural barriers that separate immigrants seeking care at the center from the doctors who care for them.
To determine the quality of care the nearly 1,200 federally funded health centers provide to more than 20 million people, Kaiser Health News used the U.S. Freedom of Information Act to obtain data showing how individual health centers performed in 2010 based on six patient care measures: controlling blood sugar of diabetics and blood pressure […]
Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care
Quality is uneven at federally funded clinics that treat millions of poor people.
Rural Georgia Center Relies on Educators, Electronic Records To Boost Patients’ Health
But some patients still struggle to find specialists.
Interactive Chart: Quality Of Care At Community Health Centers
Look up how your local community health center scores on six measures of clinical performance, as evaluated by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Health On The Hill: Medicare’s Payment Change For Physicians
KHN’s Jordan Rau and Mary Agnes Carey discuss Medicare’s transition to compensating doctors based on the quality of the medical care they provide.
Smart Shopping Can Relieve Pain From Dentists’ Charges
If you need dental work, chances are you’ll pay a big chunk of the bill out of your own pocket, even if you have dental insurance. Dental coverage often maxes out at just a few thousand dollars a year or less and typically covers only half of the cost of major procedures like crowns and […]
Today’s Headlines – April 17, 2012
Reuters/Chicago Tribune: U.S. Cites Assurant Unit Over Health Premium Hike U.S. officials on Monday cited two health insurers for excessive premium increases, under consumer protection rules of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law that could soon be nullified by the Supreme Court (4/16). The Wall Street Journal: Romney Woos Conservative Leaders Mitt Romney, while ramping […]
Wash. Abortion Coverage Bill Placed On Hold
A bill that would require insurers to cover abortion services is off the table this year in Washington state. A special session of the Washington legislature ended Wednesday without the Reproductive Parity Act reaching a vote. The bill would require private insurers that provide maternity coverage to also cover abortion. Advocates now hope to reintroduce […]
Out-Of Network Care Is Expensive But A Couple Of New Options Help
Seeking care from hospitals and doctors who haven’t agreed to negotiated rates with your insurer is costly but consumers can get help from a new database on pricing. The health law is also easing some out-of-network emergency expenses.
Today’s Headlines – April 16, 2012
The New York Times: GOP Lawmakers And Romney Face A Delicate Tango With Representative Paul D. Ryan’s budget plan, Republicans have already set the agenda on the key issue that divides the two parties in an age of austerity: how to manage the federal budget and its related entitlement programs. Mr. Romney has eagerly embraced […]
Critics Say Proposed Rule Would Make Millions Ineligible For Health Insurance Subsidies
The policy would have the greatest impact on women and children.
Medicare To Tie Doctors’ Pay To Quality, Cost Of Care
A little-noticed provision of the health law calls for increasing reimbursements to doctors who provide quality care at lower cost and reducing payments to physicians who run up costs without better results.
Nursing Aides Receive New Worker Protections
Think dangerous jobs, and a police officer entering a dark hallway or a firefighter running into a burning building might come to mind. But even more risky? Nursing aides, who have an occupation with the nation’s second highest rate of work-related injuries or illness. Nursing aides and other health care workers can slip or fall or strain […]
Report: Mass. Health Law No ‘Budget Buster’
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation finds that the state spends $91 million more per year, or 1.4 percent of the state budget, for near-universal health insurance coverage. “That’s a very tiny additional cost to taxpayers for huge benefits,” says MTF President Michael Widmer.
Diagnosing Autism In Minutes; Finding New Uses For Old Drugs
Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. Time: Can Autism Really Be Diagnosed In Minutes? Autism is an extremely complex diagnosis. Parental insight, physician observations and hours of data can factor into determining whether a child actually has the condition or is just a little on the […]
Today’s Headlines – April 13, 2012
Happy Friday! Here are your morning headlines … Reuters/Chicago Tribune: Sebelius Seeks Civil Rights Support For U.S. Healthcare Law A top U.S. administration official asked civil rights activists on Thursday to help defend President Barack Obama’s embattled healthcare law, saying the reform package faces an “enemy” determined to set American health policy back half a […]