Latest KFF Health News Stories
New Health Law Brings Better Coverage For Women
Among the many goals of the new health law is one that hasn’t received much attention: to improve women’s experiences in the health insurance world.
The Hidden Costs of Publicly Financed Private Health Insurance
There is a hidden cost how we fund health insurance in the U.S.: insurers have more information about health care than the taxpayers that help fund it. The system’s opacity gives insurers the upper hand in debates over government payment rates.
New Health Law Will Require Industry To Disclose Payments To Physicians
Doctors who accept speaking fees, five-star meals and other compensation from pharmaceutical or medical device companies will soon see their names — and the value of the gifts they accept — revealed on the Web.
Balanced Budget Out of Reach, Many Experts Warn
President Obama’s fiscal commission faces a daunting task in reducing the deficit.
Federal Officials Confirm A Shift In Medicaid Drug Rebates
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services confirms that some discounts states received from drugmakers will now be shifted to the federal government.
Poll Finds More Confusion Than Anger Over New Health Law
The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released since health overhaul became law shows that most people are confused — not angry.
Will Private Long-Term Care Insurance Supplement the CLASS Act?
CLASS takes a step towards moving long-term care financing from the welfare-like Medicaid program to an insurance-based system. But CLASS alone won’t get there. Private insurance, currently a niche product that covers only about seven million Americans, will have to play an important role as well.
Black Americans Look To Health Plan For New Hope
Many African-Americans hope the health care overhaul will cut the high rates of chronic disease in their communities. But not everyone is convinced the bill will ease the health disparities they face.
State Efforts To Move People Out Of Nursing Homes Languish
Former physical education teacher Andrew Jones, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, spent five years in nursing homes in Georgia and Connecticut. The 56-year-old was able to move out of the nursing home system in 2009 with the help of a federally-funded state program, known as “Money Follows the Person.”
Despite Federal Help, States Struggle To Move People Out Of Nursing Homes
A program, known as “Money Follows the Person,” aims to help elderly and disabled people in nursing homes live on their own and save tens of millions of dollars for Medicaid. But many states are having trouble finding affordable housing, and fewer than 6,000 people have moved. The goal is 37,000 by 2013.
Lung Cancer Screening Often Raises Costly, Scary False Alarms
An analysis of lung cancer screening finds that 21 to 33 percent of the suspicious nodules found by CT scans are false alarms, resulting in extra scans and biopsies, which cost an average of an extra $1,100.
States’ Medicaid Funds Tapped For Federal Health Overhaul
The new health care law could shift billions of dollars from cash-strapped states to the federal government by changing the way Medicaid prescription drug rebates are treated.
Big Health Insurers Have A Gift For College Grads
This year’s crop of college graduates may have trouble finding a job, given the state of the economy. But some of them will have a much easier time keeping health insurance while they look.
Health On The Hill – April 19, 2010
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing this week to discuss how to protect consumers from unreasonable health insurance premium increases.
Transcript: Health On The Hill
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing this week to discuss how to protect consumers from unreasonable health insurance premium increases.
In Kansas, Small Medicaid Cuts Have Big Impact On Some Seniors
In Kansas, cuts to Medicaid in-home services for the elderly produce quick consequences for some people who have had to move out of their apartments and into nursing homes.
Report From Michigan: What State Residents Stand To Gain From Health Reform
State officials leading the nullification campaign talk a lot about what their citizens stand to lose as the Affordable Care Act takes effect. But the real loss will be if, somehow, the opposite were to happen–and the people living in those states were left dealing with the same dysfunctional health care system that exists today.
Florida Finds ‘Dramatic’ Difference In Medicaid HMOs Vs. Traditional Care
Medicaid patients in traditional fee-for-service care get some services at two to three times the frequency of those who are in managed care, a preliminary state report suggests. What it doesn’t say: Is that good or bad?
The President’s Orders On Same-Sex Partners’ Hospital Visitation Rights
The White House released a copy of the memo sent by President Barack Obama to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on hospital visitors’ rights, including those for same-sex partners of patients.
Obama: Hospitals Must Grant Same-Sex Visitations
Hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding will be required to comply with the order.