Latest KFF Health News Stories
Poll: Doctors Fall Short In Helping Many Seniors
Large numbers of seniors aren’t receiving recommended interventions that could help forestall medical problems and improve their health, according to a new survey from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Notably, one-third of older adults said doctors didn’t review all their medications, even though problems with prescription and over-the-counter drugs are common among the elderly, leading to over […]
Survey: Court Hearings Don’t Move Public Opinion On Health Law
The three days in March that the Supreme Court devoted to debating the health law didn’t change many minds among the public. But the debate, and related media coverage, appear to have increased awareness about the law and made Republicans more supportive of the justices, according to a new survey. As it has for two years, […]
Travel Insurance Can Protect Your Health Or Wallet On Vacation
For a few dollars you can buy travel health insurance coverage that protects you if you have to cancel or shorten a trip if you, your traveling companions or even a family member not traveling with you becomes ill and requires care.
Medicare Trustee Has New Personal Stake In Program
As a nationally known expert on federal health policy, Robert Reischauer has for decades had more than a passing interest in Medicare. But this week his passion for the program — and concern for its future viability — turned more personal. “I applied for Medicare yesterday,” Reischauer said Monday at a media briefing where he and […]
Today’s Headlines – April 23, 2012
Good Monday morning! Here are your headlines to get you back in the swing of things: The Associated Press/Washington Post: Social Security, Medicare Strained By Slow Economic Recovery, Aging Workforce An aging population and an economy that has been slow to rebound are straining the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two […]
States Consider Limiting Patient Costs For Physical, Speech, Occupational Therapy
Advocates want curbs on what consumers pay toward physical, occupation and speech therapy visits. Insurers say that could raise premiums.
Rushed Medicine; Exercising Your Way To A Smarter Brain
Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. Newsweek: The Doctor Will See You–If You’re Quick Something in the world of medicine is seriously amiss. Unhappy patients gripe about their doctors’ brusque manner and give them bad marks on surveys and consumer websites like HealthGrades and Angie’s List. […]
Maryland’s First Green House Project Nursing Home Aids Low-Income Seniors
What was once a novel idea for longterm care for the elderly — small, homey facilities of 10 to 12 residents each — is now a model cropping up around the country. On Thursday The Green House Project— an alternative to senior institutional care created by Dr. William H. Thomas, a geriatrician and self-described ‘nursing […]
Today’s Headlines – April 20, 2012
Happy Friday! Here are your morning headlines: Los Angeles Times: House Passes 20% Tax Cut For Businesses Despite a veto threat from President Obama, the Republican-led House approved a 20% election-year tax cut for most companies intended to entice them to pick up the pace of hiring and, thus, boost the economy. Democrats, though, said […]
Q&A: Can I Be Denied Coverage For My Daughter Who Is Returning To College?
The health law allows parents to enroll their adult children in their insurance plan until they are 26. A reader asks Michelle Andrews if that applies to individual plans.
Growth In Health Costs Limited As Americans Avoid Hospital Stays
Americans continued to seek moderate amounts of medical care in the first quarter, helping insurer UnitedHealth Group beat profit expectations amid signs of continued restraint in health-care spending. In an early look at medical-cost trends for 2012, the nation’s biggest private insurer said today that an increase in outpatient treatments from January through March was partly offset by a lack of growth […]
Today’s Headlines – April 19, 2012
Good morning! Here are your a.m. headlines … The New York Times: In A Shift, Medicare Pushes Bids The Obama administration said Wednesday that it would vastly expand the use of competitive bidding to buy medical equipment for Medicare beneficiaries after a one-year experiment saved money for taxpayers and patients without harming the quality of […]
Survey: Key Groups Unaware Of Health Law Benefits
Despite the millions of people who have gained insurance coverage as a result of the health law, a survey released Thursday shows outreach efforts for two popular provisions are missing key parts of their target audience. TABLE.khntable { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 300px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; PADDING-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; […]
Some Women’s Groups See Another Agenda In Attacks On Contraceptive Coverage
Opponents of the Obama administration’s contraception coverage mandate emphasize religious freedom, but others say the real issue is birth control.
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.