Latest KFF Health News Stories
Younger, Disabled Medicare Beneficiaries Have Trouble Getting Supplementary Insurance
Federal law does not guarantee beneficiaries under the age of 65 the right to buy Medigap coverage and even when they do qualify for a plan, it is often prohibitively expensive.
So This Is Freedom? They Must Be Joking.
Despite the rhetoric about compromise, what President Barack Obama actually did when he announced that states would have some flexibility in implementing the health law was give states the option of replacing his law with a single-payer health system three years earlier than it otherwise could have happened.
Fixing America’s Health Care Reimbursement System
Addressing the current system by which physician payment is determined is a challenge that demands attention beyond the physician community. It will take the influence of businesses and patient advocates who bear the brunt of the nation’s skyrocketing health care costs.
A Message To Health Law Critics: It’s Not About A Lack Of Flexibility
What truly undermines the arguments offered by conservative critics is their lack of workable alternative ideas that would achieve the health insurance coverage expansion goals set by the health law.
Insurance Trade-Off: Reducing Premiums By Eliminating Expensive Doctors, Hospitals
Some insurers are offering consumers a hefty break if they pay more out-of-pocket when they use certain high-cost providers in their network or are cutting the providers from the coverage.
Helping Patients Understand Their Medical Treatment
Consumers are increasingly expected to manage their complex regimens but that is especially challenging for those who don’t have the ability to comprehend health information.
Govs vs. Feds: Who Will Play The ‘Power Card’ In The Medicaid Struggle?
Medicaid is the rope in the current tug of war between the states and the federal government over health reform. So far, the feds think they are winning. But don’t discount the governors.
Regulators Penalize Some Maryland Hospitals For Complication Rates
A Maryland program to curb hospital infection rates is showing signs of success, but nine hospitals still fell short last year and were penalized a total of $2.1 million.
Medical Liability Reform Should Be Real And Effective
As Congress wrestles with medical liability reform, more than 40 years of experience with California’s cap on non-economic damages offers evidence that this approach is an effective way to achieve the goal of reducing health care costs while preserving sufficient deterrence in the legal system.
After The Deluge: Health Reform Without An Individual Mandate
As challenges to the health law’s individual mandate wind their way through the courts, it is important to focus on the real question: what happens to the health law if this provision is ultimately struck down?
States Pushing Managed Long-Term Care For Elderly And Disabled Medicaid Patients
Some patient advocates, as well as the nursing home industry, object to using managed care for such vulnerable patients, but health plans say they can provide quality services while holding down costs.
Experts Seek To Simplify Medication Labels That Often Confuse Patients
Many people do not take drugs as directed-skipping doses, taking the wrong number of pills or taking them at the wrong time of day. Poor adherence results in millions of dollars of medical expenses each year.
An Irresponsible Roll Of The Dice
The president chose to submit a profoundly unserious budget. There’s no entitlement reform to close the long-term fiscal gap. There’s no tax reform. There are some minor cuts to marginal programs for show. But, overall, it’s very much a business-as-usual budget, with a few new and expensive long-term commitments thrown in for good measure. It’s like the president and his team woke up after the mid-term election with a bad case of political amnesia.
How Group Health Is Holding Costs Down: A KHN Interview With CEO Scott Armstrong
One of the lesser-known provisions of the new health law calls for federal loans to help fund health cooperatives. Scott Armstrong, the CEO of Group Health, says that co-ops can improve patient care and contain costs.
The nation’s leaders must slog through the complexities and ideologies of the current political landscape in order to craft solutions that will shore up the American safety net and protect its weakest citizens.
Political Gridlock And The Challenge Of Implementing Health Reform
In regard to the health law’s CLASS program, too little political space exists to advance midcourse corrections or enact programmatic improvements — that’s a price Democrats paid by achieving their dream of near-universal coverage on a party-line vote; and by Republicans, because of their implacable opposition to just about everything Democrats proposed.
FAQ: The Shrinking Medicare Doughnut Hole
Beginning this year, seniors who hit the coverage gap will get substantial discounts on both brand-name and generic drugs.
Some Seniors Are In For Sticker Shock On Drug Premiums
Starting this year, affluent Medicare beneficiaries will begin paying more than the standard premium for their Part D coverage.
Insurance Reform Is Not Cost Control
Now that House Republicans, along with a few Democrats, have passed a bill to repeal last year’s health reform law, they are planning to offer some alternatives for replacing it. But how can we tell if their plans are likely to tackle the of high health care spending?
Some Doctors Dispute Benefits Of Early Diagnosis
Dartmouth researchers argue that ordering screenings for people with no symptoms too often leads to costly treatment for people who would likely never have gotten sick.
