Latest KFF Health News Stories
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 […]
Ryan On ‘Moral And Legal Obligation’ To Fix Entitlements
In a news conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Reps. Paul Ryan and Tom Price said that the proposed sweeping changes would protect the program for seniors and the disabled.
Today’s Headlines – March 20, 2012
The Washington Post: House Republicans To Propose Dramatic Changes To Tax Code Democrats have been gearing up to tackle other aspects of Ryan’s budget proposal — notably efforts to reshape Medicare and to slash federal agency spending beneath the $1.047 trillion level agreed to during the summer’s hard-fought battle over raising the debt ceiling (Helderman […]
Why Are Health Costs So High? The Robot Knows
Americans have always loved the next big thing: the newest iPhone, the freshest hi-def television, and the latest and greatest … medical technology. But that quick embrace of new innovations has come at a cost: It’s driving up the prices hospitals charge insurance companies who in turn raise premiums for the rest of us. One […]
Some States Limit How Uninsured Pay For High-Risk Insurance
The states are concerned that third-party funding may drive up the number of people seeking to join the pre-existing condition insurance plans and exhaust the budgets provided by the federal government.
A Tale Of Two Health Insurance Extremes
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents — 25 percent — while Massachusetts’ is the lowest — less than 2 percent. We profile two people who are living the reality of that difference.
Today’s Headlines – March 19, 2012
Good morning! Another week starts and more health policy news for you to read: The New York Times’ The Caucus: Health Care Debate Returns With Intensity This week is the two-year anniversary of Mr. Obama’s health care law, and Republicans in Washington are planning to celebrate with a series of attacks. Next week, the Supreme […]
AARP Arming For Medicare Battle
Against a backdrop of proposals to overhaul the popular social insurance program and a presidential campaign likely to address entitlement spending, the seniors group is mobilizing.
New Rule Cuts Student Health Plans Temporary Breaks
Beginning next school year, student health insurance will fall in line with many of the requirements established under the 2010 health law – with some temporary exceptions announced Friday in new rules released by the Obama administration Student insurers and higher education groups had been waiting for months on the final set of rules from […]
HHS Floats New Ideas For Contraception Coverage Compromise
Again wading into the conflict between religious liberty and reproductive rights, the Obama administration on Friday suggested a number of ways it might arrange for insurers to pay for the contraception of employees of religious organizations without using any premium money from those groups. The ideas are intended to deal with a knotty problem created […]