Latest KFF Health News Stories
No Outrage, No Story In Dead Patients
A good story involves drama and conflict. It’s a great story when a federal judge with Republican ties nixing the president’s achievement in ensuring access to care for all. But a couple of reports about hospitals avoidably killing tens of thousands of Americans once they have that access to care apparently has little, if any, drama at all.
Video: Q&A with Michelle Andrews: Seeking Health Coverage When Traditional Coverage Is Out Of Reach
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a consumer about options for seeking health coverage when cost and other considerations put most other coverage out of reach.
Video: Q&A with Michelle Andrews: Preventive Health
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a consumer about why health plans are not touting more preventive health care to save on costs in the system. But, as Andrews details, new plans are going to have to provide many different sorts of preventive health services for free.
Video: Q&A with Michelle Andrews: Options To Get Health Coverage On Your Own
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a consumer about what to consider when looking to buy a health insurance plan.
Elder Care: Picking Up The PACE
ElderPlus, a day-care program for adults in Baltimore, is part of the Program for All-Inclusive Care for Elderly (PACE), which provides comprehensive medical and social services to frail, low-income seniors with serious health problems.
New Rules Would Require Insurers To Justify Double-Digit Rate Increases
The Obama administration’s proposed rule would require health insurers to explain in detail any rate increase of 10 percent or more in 2011.
Some Policies Restrict Coverage By Limiting Visits To The Doctor
The new health law eliminated lifetime and most annual dollar limits for consumers but some plans cut costs by covering only a defined number of doctor appointments, prescriptions or other services.
Innovative Day-Care Program Seeks To Keep Frail, Low-Income Seniors In Their Homes
PACE offers comprehensive medical and social services and supporters say it can reduce hospital and nursing home stays and save money for Medicare and Medicaid.
A Bipartisan Budget Will Require Bipartisan Health Care
It is essential that political leaders come together in a bipartisan fashion to put our government’s finances on more stable footing. But that won’t be done if the nation’s approach to health care is supported by only one of the two major political parties.
Analysis: The Long Road To A Supreme Court Decision On Health Law’s Mandate
Federal District Court decisions on health law cheer both sides as issue heads to Supreme Court.
Transcript: Health Law Repeal Efforts To Gain Steam, Others Stand Against It
Republican efforts to repeal the health overhaul law will be a central focus for the party when the 112th Congress convenes in January, while Democrats will fight repeal or any significant changes to the measure.
Video: Health Law Repeal Efforts To Gain Steam, Others Stand Against It
Republican efforts to repeal the health overhaul law will be a central focus for the party when the 112th Congress convenes in January, while Democrats will fight repeal or any significant changes to the measure. Kaiser Health News recently interviewed two lawmakers
GOP Lobbyists Return To Capitol Hill
Prominent health care lobbyist Howard Cohen is returning to the Hill as a key committee staffer now that the GOP is back in charge of the House.
Emergency Rooms Predict More Patient Visits As Law Expands Insurance Coverage
A new survey of emergency department administrators shows most believe the new health law will drive more patients to their facilities.
U.K. Health Maps Show A Shared Problem Across The Pond?
Doctors in some areas of Britain do one type of hip replacement at rates up to 16 times greater than in places like London, according to a November atlas by the National Health Service, mirroring a problem Medicare researchers have seen in the U.S.
Medicaid May Not Be Ideal, But Unraveling It Would Be Foolish
Here is a question for the state officials who oppose expanding the safety net program or support getting rid of it: What do you propose to do instead? The answer appears to be very little.
Experts Ponder ‘Plan B’ Options For The Individual Mandate
If the courts were to strike down the provision of the health law requiring consumers to buy insurance, some experts say there are other ways to get people covered.
State Insurance Officials Approve Rules For Descriptions Of Health Policies
Under the health overhaul law, insurers will be required to provide their benefits information on a standardized chart using the same plain English terms as other companies to help shoppers understand and compare complicated policies.
Is The Individual Mandate Really A Lynchpin In The New Health Law?
The individual mandate as included in the health overhaul isn’t even close to what it has been made to be — a provision that would protect the integrity of the health insurance market by forcing people to buy health insurance before they became sick.
Is There Any Hope For Medicaid Reform?
Recent coverage of the proposals offered by President Obama’s debt commission managed to gloss over a huge factor adding to the nation’s deficit — Medicaid. But the problem wasn’t just in the coverage, but in the report, too. The final version ignored the massive expansion of the Medicaid program included in the new health care lawand didn’t push for structural reforms to the program.