Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 2, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about Tuesday’s super committee hearing and the message communicated by bipartisan budget hawks to the panel — raise revenue and revamp health programs. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Bipartisan Budget Hawks To Debt-Cutting Panel: Raise Revenue, Revamp Health Programs Four prominent deficit-cutters told Congress’ bipartisan […]
Cain On Health Care: What To Expect From Capitol Hill Speech
When GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain comes face-to-face with a crowd of legislators and news reporters Wednesday, the subject will be health care policy, not sexual harassment- – if Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, has his way. Burgess is bringing Cain to Capitol Hill to flesh out his health care ideas, which so far have been […]
Simpson, Bowles Blast Health Care Spending
Former Sen. Alan Simpson and former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles both zeroed in on health care costs and the deficit during testimony before the super committee on Tuesday.
Health On The Hill: Budget Experts Warn Super Committee About Consequences Of Failure
Jackie Judd talks with KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey about the super committee’s public hearing Tuesday when it heard from the leaders of previous deficit reduction groups.
Medicare will cut payment rates to home health agencies by 2.3 percent in 2012 — the sixth consecutive annual decrease in fees to the industry. The decision, which will lop off an estimated $430 million from the program next year, follows concerns by a congressional advisory panel that the agencies are overpaid. Home health advocates […]
More Than 25% Of Medicare Drug Plans Get Poor Ratings
Federal officials have changed the evaluation system to include more quality measures and plans that don’t meet standards in three years will face expulsion.
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 1, 2011
Good morning. Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations include a report that the health law’s early retirees’ health insurance fund may be running out. Politico: Social Forces May Limit Health Care Reform The health care reform law gives federal health officials a new mandate to address the fact that racial and ethnic minorities […]
$6.8 Billion Spent Yearly On 12 Unnecessary Tests And Treatments
The conclusion comes from a study that looked at procedures and prescriptions ordered by primary care doctors frequently.
Minnesota Health Systems Try Partnering, Not Competition, To Boost Their Bottom Lines
A partnership between two rival health systems in the Minneapolis area is offering a glimpse of the future, at least as envisioned in the federal health law.
Health Expert Urges States To Slow The Move To Medicaid Managed Care
As more states turn to managed care to reduce Medicaid costs, Judy Feder is urging caution. Feder, a professor at and former dean of the Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute , is worried that officials’ enthusiasm for managed care in Medicaid “might get out of hand,” and she is urging them to move slowly when […]
States Are Limiting Medicaid Hospital Coverage In Search For Savings
Hospitals say the burden of cost-cutting falls on them because they’ll be stuck with the bill for care if Medicaid refuses to pay.
Today’s Headlines – Oct. 31, 2011
Happy Halloween! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a key medical group’s take on accountable care organizations and how a “merger wave” is hitting the health care sector. Los Angeles Times: Deficit Reduction Panel Reaches Crucial Juncture The super committee has until Thanksgiving to reach an accord. A deal to […]
Big Insurer Fights Back In Court Against Regulation Of Profit Margin
The case brought by Anthem Health Plans of Maine could have regulatory repercussions around the country.
Medical Schools Say Magazine’s Ratings Get An Incomplete
Deans from some of the nation’s top medical schools met Thursday — not to talk about training doctors or weathering economic challenges — but to size up the people who grade them. The sit-down between editors at U.S. News & World Report and the top brass at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and several other schools showed […]
Doctor-Patient Relationship Has Starring Role In AMA Ad
Keep an eye out during the evening news, or even your favorite show on Lifetime, because the American Medical Association is taking to primetime news and cable to fight Medicare physician payment cuts. Doctors face a 29.5 percent payment cut Jan. 1 if Congress doesn’t intervene. The AMA ran ads explicitly against the cut in […]
Looking For The Inventor Of The Individual Mandate
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. The Atlantic: Did A Conservative Think Tank Really Invent The Individual Mandate? In the course of defending the health care bill he passed in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney told Newt Gingrich that he got the idea for the individual mandate — a rule dictating that […]
Today’s Headlines – Oct. 28, 2011
Happy Friday! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the health law’s public support, the latest on the super committee and news about the cost of Medicare Part B premiums. The Wall Street Journal: Repeal Health Law? It Won’t Be Easy Every Republican presidential candidate has promised to repeal the Obama […]
Public Support Of Health Law Drops Sharply
Many Democrats lost faith that the law would help them, a bad sign for the Obama administration as it tries to maintain support among voters.
A Tweak To Health Law Would Eliminate Medicaid For Some
Should the middle class be eligible for Medicaid? The health program, funded jointly by the feds and the states, was devised to cover the poor. But if a provision in last year’s health law isn’t changed that could be the case for people with pretty healthy incomes. So today, the House approved a bill that would make […]
Managing Asthma With More Than Medicine
Truly treating childhood asthma takes a team of doctors, health educators and parents. They are trying this approach in Philadelphia, where the prevalence of the disease in the African-American community is especially high.