Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicare Spends Less Than Private Insurers On Knee Replacements
Study finds that’s mostly because the government pays far lower rates for hospital care
House Republicans Pound Sebelius On Health Law
Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. She defended the health care law and the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request. The hearing had all the hallmarks of a partisan political event.
Today’s Headlines – February 28, 2012
Good morning! Here are your early-morning headlines: The New York Times: At-Risk Patients Gain Attention Of Health Insurers One percent of patients account for more than 25 percent of health care spending among the privately insured, according to a new study. Their medical bills average nearly $100,000 a year for multiple hospital stays, doctors’ visits, […]
Pediatricians Recommend HPV Vaccination For Boys
The leading group of U.S. pediatricians says it’s now time for boys, as well as girls, to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus. The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidance to parents and doctors in favor of routine immunization for boys against the virus. Previously, the group had said it was OK to vaccinate […]
Insurers Open Stores To Peddle Health Plans
With more people buying insurance on their own, and even more slated to because of the health law, insurers are seeking a retail strategy.
Today’s Headlines – February 27, 2012
Good morning! Get your week started with these headlines: The New York Times: A Measure Of Change: Obama’s Deficit Dilemma Yet starting with that April speech, Mr. Obama has come to adopt most of the major tenets supported by a majority of the commission’s members, though his proposals do not go as far. He has […]
By The Numbers: Wisconsin’s High Risk Pool
This week the federal government touted the number of people who have enrolled in the high risk insurance pools created in every state. After a slow start, some 50,000 people with serious illnesses nationwide have signed up for the insurance plans created by the federal health law. But in Wisconsin and elsewhere that statistic doesn’t […]
Q&A: I Was Billed, But Aren’t Colonoscopies Free Under The Health Law?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader who had a colonoscopy and was billed a 30 percent co-pay. The reader asks: Aren’t preventive services like that free under the health law?
Five Questions About The Health Law’s Mandate To Cover Birth Control
While controversy over one aspect of the Obama administration’s contraception rule
Electronic Health Records Program Advances to ‘Stage 2’
It’s time to take electronic health records to the next level. Federal officials on Thursday released their second-stage guidelines for “meaningful use” of electronic records, which advocates say have the potential to reduce medical errors and streamline care. The proposed rules require doctors and hospitals to significantly step up their usage, as well as better […]
Today’s Headlines – February 24, 2012
Happy Friday, world! Here are your headlines: Los Angeles Times: Debt Would Grow Under Most GOP Candidates’ Plans, Report Says The sober analysis shows how difficult it will be for any new inhabitant in the White House to shift the nation’s debt trajectory, and the need for long-term and bipartisan efforts to gain revenues and […]
Law Student Makes Case For Contraceptive Coverage
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Congress is in recess this week, but that didn’t stop House Democrats from holding a hearing to take testimony from a Georgetown law student who was barred from testifying in last week’s hearing about President Obama’s policy on contraceptives, health insurance and religiously affiliated organizations. That […]
Different Takes: Maryland Advances An ‘Enterprising’ Plan To Eliminate Health Disparities
The University Of Maryland’s Dr. E. Albert Reece and The Heritage Foundation’s Stuart Butler discuss how health enterprise zones, a new take on an old economic development idea, might be used to improve the health of the state’s minority populations.
Using A New Twist On Enterprise Zones To Eliminate Health Disparities
Dr. E. Albert Reece, the dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, writes that the state’s General Assembly is considering a series of bold initiatives – including “Health Enterprize Zones” – to reduce and eliminate health disparities, especially in Maryland’s most underserved communities.
Maryland’s Health Enterprise Zones Need The Right Incentives And Rules
The Heritage Foundation’s Stuart Butler, an architect of the urban “enterprise zone” idea more than 30 years ago, offers his suggestions on how to make a recent proposal in Maryland to set up Health Enterprise Zones a successful endeavor.
Minnesota Exchange Grant Arrives In Politically Divided State
The federal government has awarded Minnesota $26 million to help it create a health insurance exchange, but Republicans in the GOP-led state legislature there are engaged in a bitter fight with Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton on its planning and even its existence.
Today’s Headlines – February 23, 2012
Good morning! Here are your headlines to get you going this A.M.: The New York Times: The Caucus Blog: Study Finds Mixed Results In GOP Candidates’ Plans For Federal Debt All four would repeal the 2010 health care law, which would not save much money since the law includes spending cuts and tax increases to […]
Testy Santorum, Romney Tussle Over Mass. Health Reform
In the last scheduled Republican debate, candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul attacked the Obama administration on its birth control stance. Santorum dovetailed the issue into an attack of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, which then-Gov. Romney endorsed. Here is a transcript of the health care portions of the debate:
Council Publishes Plan For Alzheimer’s Research, Care
Federal officials have taken another step toward their goal of better treatment for and even prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. On Wednesday, an advisory council convened by the Obama administration released a fleshed-out, draft version of its national plan to address Alzheimer’s. Much of the plan was already known from the draft framework published […]
Analysis: Is A New Federal Patient Safety Effort Doing Enough To Curb Medical Errors?
The Medicare program is betting on a new course of action to curb patient harm. The effort is pegged to the success of a little-known entity called a “hospital engagement network.”