Latest KFF Health News Stories
Advocates Prepare To Challenge GOP On Health Law
In the aftermath of Republicans’ election victories, defenders of the health care law are huddling to thwart GOP efforts to eviscerate the sweeping measure. Groups that back the law aren’t likely to coalesce around a single message to increase public support.
In Dialysis, Life-Saving Care at Great Risk and Cost
An untold number of dialysis patients are injured or die as a result of needle dislodgements, but Medicare rules don’t require clinics to report such adverse incidents to outside authorities.
Health Insurance Open Season Questions? Here Are Some Answers
Readers of The Washington Post posed questions about potential taxes on insurance, how to pick a plan and the increase in costs and KHN’s Michelle Andrews provided answers.
Health Law Or No, Most Businesses Likely To Keep Offering Insurance
A new survey of more than 2,800 employers found no big reason for workers to worry.
Poll: Economy-Not Health Law-Topped Voters’ Concerns
Health care ranked fourth among factors that influenced how people voted last week, according to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
OTC Medicines Cut From 2011 Flexible Spending Accounts
Beginning in 2011, the new health law bars payments for over items such as aspirin, vitamins and cough medicine from the popular accounts set up with pretax dollars. Consumers can still get the coverage with a prescription.
Families Fight To Care For Disabled Kids At Home
In states like Illinois, parents can provide at-home care for children with severe illnesses and Medicaid foots the bill. But the funding disappears the minute they turn 21, forcing families to make a painful choice: Find the money to pay for sometimes exorbitant health care costs or send their children to a nursing home.
Video: Obama, Rand Paul On Health Law
On CBS’ “60 Minutes” President Barack Obama acknowledged that taking on “something as big as health care” probably “wasn’t great politics.” Senator-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky., a favorite of the tea party, told ABC’s “This Week” why he believes the law should be repealed.
Attacking The Health Law: The GOP’s Confusing And Incompatible Arguments
The Republicans and their allies spent a lot of time – and a lot of money – attacking the new health law and promising to undo it. And they did so with such a fury that almost nobody seemed to notice they were making a pair of arguments that were fundamentally incompatible.
Conservatives’ Conflict: Try For Health Law Repeal – Or Revision?
Conservatives are already debating whether it’s better for Republicans to chip away at part of the health law or just lay the groundwork for 2012.
HHS Cuts Premiums For Some High Risk Pools
Trying to spur enrollment in a new health insurance program for uninsured people with pre-existing medical conditions, the federal government is doing something private insurers almost never do: slashing rates.
Transcript: Boehner And Obama On Election Results And Health Law
In the wake of the GOP victories on election night, incoming House Speaker Boehner and President Obama responded to questions about the impact of health reform on the vote.
Video: Obama On Election Results And Health Law
In the wake of the GOP victories on election night, President Barack Obama held a news conference to talk about the “shellacking” he and his party took. He was asked about the impact of the health law on the vote. Here is an excerpt of that part of the event.
Riding An Elevator With Boehner: What Would You Say?
Less than 24 hours after Republicans won control of the House, soon-to-be-speaker John Boehner denounced the new health care law, saying it would “kill jobs in America, ruin the best health care system in the world, and bankrupt our country” — and renewed his vow to try to repeal it. Kaiser Health News asked people around the country to answer the following question: “If you ended up in an elevator with Rep. Boehner, what single thing would you urge him to do about health care in this country?”
Transcript: Health On The Hill – The Election’s Impact On The Health Law
With major gains in Congress, in governors’ races and in statehouses across the country, Republicans will continue to push for repeal or significant changes to the health care law. President Obama says while he is open to making some modifications, he and Democrats will resist major changes to the measure.
Health On The Hill – November 3, 2010
With major gains in Congress, in governors’ races and in statehouses across the country, Republicans will continue to push for repeal or significant changes to the health care law. President Obama says while he is open to making some modifications, he and Democrats will resist major changes to the measure.
Health Care Cost Control Is Hard, And Humbling
Though lots of different approaches to controlling health care costs have been discussed, it’s hard to know which of them will really work.
With Newly-Elected Governors, GOP Gains Clout To Fight Health Reform Law
New state officials could slow the pace of implementation, seek waivers from some provisions, veto state legislation and appoint like-minded people to important positions, such as insurance commissioner slots.
Republican’s Controversial Proposal To Mend Medicare
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s ideas
House Takeover Will Give GOP Ways To Attack Health Law
With their House majority, Republicans plan to use all available legislative tools to challenge and change the health reform law.