Cost and Quality

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Survey: Consumers Face Higher Health Care Costs

KFF Health News Original

Employees will be experiencing higher co-pays and deductibles in their health insurance next year as employers continue to reduce their overall coverage to deal with rapidly rising costs.

Coburn Exit Has Some Questioning Role Of Gang Of Six

KFF Health News Original

In today’s Health On The Hill, KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with The Fiscal Times’ Eric Pianin about the Gang of Six, negotiators seeking consensus on deficit reduction plans. The group lost a member this week after Sen. Tom Coburn left talks Tuesday over proposed cuts to Medicare, potentially leaving them overshadowed by other similar efforts, like one headed by Vice President Joe Biden.

Decline In Autopsies May Obscure Understanding Of Disease

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals perform the postmortem exams in only about 5 percent of patients who die. Experts fear that for others, key details about diagnosis and the effect of treatments are lost.

Sit Down, Mitt, You’re Not Helping (Guest Opinion)

KFF Health News Original

Mitt Romney’s reversals on a variety of policy issues create the impression that when he’s with you, he’s with you. At least until he leaves the room. The impression is again playing out in regard to Romney’s stunning reversal on Massachusett’s health plan.

Gloomier-Than-Expected Forecast For Medicare

KFF Health News Original

The outlook for the federal health insurance program that, as of last year, covered 47.5 million elderly and disabled Americans is a dramatic shift from last summer.

Untouchable! Vets’ $52 Billion Health Care Plan

KFF Health News Original

The military is trying to figure out ways to slow down the rapidly rising cost of care and the Obama administration’s 2012 budget calls for the first changes since 1996.

A Success Story: Expanding Health Care Options For Detroit’s Poor-The KHN Interview

KFF Health News Original

In this video, KHN reporter Jenny Gold interviews Dr. Herbert Smitherman about the Voices of Detroit Initiative that tracked 33,000 uninsured people and helped get more than half of them into coordinated care systems.

A Success Story: Expanding Health Care Options For Detroit’s Poor-The KHN Interview

KFF Health News Original

Dr. Herbert Smitherman talks about the Voices of Detroit Initiative that tracked 33,000 uninsured people and helped get more than half of them into coordinated care systems.

Dispatch From Los Angeles: Cockroaches, Podiatrists And Fears About Medicaid’s Future (Guest Opinion)

KFF Health News Original

Located in one of the nation’s most medically underserved areas, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center is bracing for GOP-backed Medicaid cuts that the facility’s director says would be disastrous.