Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines – March 23, 2012
Happy Friday! It’s the anniversary of President Obama signing the health reform law — here’s what the news has to say this morning: The New York Times: House Votes To Kill A Medicare Cost Panel In a rebuff to President Obama, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill on Thursday to abolish a Medicare cost control […]
House GOP Doctors Say Ryan Medicare Plan Doesn’t Reduce Costs Enough
The GOP Doctors Caucus is sending letters Friday soliciting ideas on how to “save” the seniors’ program and build bipartisan support.
Scorecard: What The Health Law Has Delivered, Or Not
Kaiser Health News compares data on the progress of the health law’s implementation to the original projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama administration.
Sheriff: State Mental Health Cuts Undermine Public Safety
As states have struggled to balance their budgets during the economic downturn, mental health programs have frequently weathered significant cuts. Three-quarters of states have cut their mental health budgets during each of the past four fiscal years, for a combined reduction of $4.35 billion, according to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors […]
Health Industries Weigh In On Supreme Court Case
Insurers, hospitals and drug makers all cut deals to help shape the health law. Now, as the Supreme Court awaits arguments, the industry groups are deploying different strategies to defend their interests before the High Court.
Health Literacy’s Effect On Costs
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reads from around the Web. Huffington Post: Women’s Health Care Is Stronger Thanks To The Health Care Law In many families, women are the health care decision makers. When children go for their checkups, we are often the ones who make the appointment and sit in the room […]
The IPAB: The Center Of A Political Clash Over How To Change Medicare
A panel established by the health law to rein in Medicare spending is the target of a House GOP effort to begin dismantling the 2010 health law.
A Timeline Of The Health Law’s Milestones And Regulations
The health law was controversial even before it was signed by President Obama two years ago tomorrow. But the political controversy has not deterred the administration from issuing hundreds of pages of regulations that are already affecting consumers, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and state governments.
Today’s Headlines – March 22, 2012
Good Thursday morning! Tomorrow’s the anniversary of the health reform law signing, we’re all over it. But in the meantime, here’s your morning headlines: The Associated Press/Washington Post: House Floor Next For Contentious GOP Budget Plan That Cuts Social Safety Net, Tax Rates It’s on to the House floor for a deficit-slashing GOP budget plan. […]
Berwick Still Looking Ahead, On The Bright Side
Donald Berwick said he didn’t want to focus on the fate of the 2010 federal health law, but eventually the physician and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services addressed the elephant in the room. “I think this law will stand; it’ll be hard to take away,” Berwick said Monday during his […]
How Obama Lost The Messaging War Over Health Care Law
As the health law heads to the Supreme Court, public opinion about the policies remains almost as divided as it was when President Obama signed it into law two years ago.
Ill. Primary Night Video: Santorum, Romney Differ On Health Care
During his concession speech, in Gettysburg, Pa., Rick Santorum again claimed that Mitt Romney is the wrong choice to go against President Obama on health care issues. Romney briefly criticized the health law, but otherwise did not discuss the subject. Here are brief clips of what Santorum and Romney said in their speeches Tuesday night:
Today’s Headlines – March 21, 2012
The New York Times: House GOP Lays Down Marker With New Budget Plan House Republicans thrust their vision of a smaller government, a flatter tax code and a free-market Medicare system into the 2012 election season on Tuesday, banking that fears over surging federal deficits will trump longstanding voter allegiances to popular government programs (Weisman, […]
The New Jersey Experience: Do Insurance Reforms Unravel Without An Individual Mandate?
New Jersey attempted reforms without imposing a mandate. The outcome in that state offers reasons why supporters say the individual mandate is necessary if the federal health law is to achieve its goals.
Hill Panel Reviews Plan To Give Home Aide Workers Wage And Overtime Protections
Home care providers and labor advocates squared off Tuesday before a congressional committee reviewing an administration plan to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to the nation’s nearly 2 million home care workers. Last December, President Barack Obama announced a proposal to overturn a 1974 law that exempts “companionship” employees from the Fair Labor Standards […]
Health On The Hill: Analyzing Ryan’s New Budget Proposal
KHN’s Marilyn Werber Serafini and Mary Agnes Carey discuss the budget Wis. Republican Rep. Paul Ryan released today and how it differs from the proposal he released last year.
Two (Very Different) Miami Hospitals Prepare For Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion
Even as Florida leads the Supreme Court challenge against the health law, a private and a public hospital are anticipating an influx of new patients who will be covered by Medicaid if the law stands.
Best Hospitals In New Analysis Are Not The Most Renowned
HealthGrades is out with its latest list of America’s best hospitals, and the collection is notable for the heavy presence of community hospitals and the omission of many of the medical centers with national reputation. The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the Cleveland Clinic and Stanford Hospital in Palo […]
New Ryan Budget Would Transform Medicare And Medicaid
KHN’s Marilyn Werber Serafini details how the Wisconsin Republican’s proposal places greater limits on federal spending for Medicare than last year’s blueprint.
Illustrating Illinois Insurance Coverage Before & After Health Law
Health care advocates in Illinois are marking the two-year anniversary of the 2010 health law with an interactive map that shows how two provisions – expansion of Medicaid eligibility and the creation of new insurance marketplaces called exchanges – could expand coverage to the state’s residents, some 13 percent of whom are currently uninsured. The map […]