Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers To Insurance Exchanges
The idea, which could save companies big money, is stirring interest and concern.
Need A Doc? These Companies Will Hook You Up In A Hurry
Online firms offer concierge medical services to middle-class subscribers including speedy referrals and a helping hand through the red tape.
Who Should Get Pricey Hepatitis C Drugs?
Is it right to ask patients with early stage liver disease to wait for treatments that could cure them?
Even With Obamacare, Many Latinos Still Seek Treatment In Mexico
Patients say they drive across the border because costs are lower, waits are shorter and doctors speak their language.
Medicare Seeks To Stop Overpayments For Hospice Patients’ Drugs
Studies have found that the government often pays insurance plans and hospice organizations for the same prescriptions, so Medicare is directing insurers to confirm that prescriptions are not covered by hospice before paying for them.
Who Really Pays For Health Care Might Surprise You
Implementation of the health law has renewed discussions of who wins, loses and gains access to health insurance. But questions persist. Here’s a corrective to common misconceptions about who pays for health care.
Health Law Presents Options, Challenges For Colorado Small Businesses
About half of small businesses in Colorado are seeing double-digit premium increases under the ACA.
Emanuel: Although ‘Not A Perfect Law,’ ACA Is Protecting Patients
The former White House adviser talks about his new book and some of his surprising predictions about health care in the next decade and beyond.
From Zero To 3.3 Million Sign-Ups: How California ‘Won’ The Obamacare Race
No state signed more people up for health law coverage in the first health law enrollment period, but a sometimes faulty website and spotty customer service often frustrated the process.
Health Plans Scramble To Calculate 2015 Rates
There’s a lot riding on these cost calculations for insurance companies, consumers and even the health law’s future.
With Medical Debts Rising, Doctors Are More Aggressive About Payments
Between 2008 and 2012, multispecialty practices saw their bad debt go up 14 percent, according to a recent survey, and some have begun to change their business practices in response.
Medical debt is worrisome and embarrassing, but more importantly, it can have long-term financial consequences. Here are some tips that may be helpful to avoid or alleviate medical debt.
A Reader Asks: If Our Income Changes, Can We Change Plans?
KHN’s consumer columnist says people who qualified for premium and cost-sharing subsidies but later have earnings that put them over that limit can switch to less expensive plans.
Rural Hospitals Face Tough Choices On Computerized Records
Hospitals in remote places are making tradeoffs to adopt electronic medical records. Some are joining larger systems, sacrificing their independence. Others are going it alone, carefully.
In Seattle, Insurers And Hospitals Complain About New Rules
State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler says rules will help consumers see which providers are in-network and ensure they get the coverage they have paid for.
Florida Blue: Health Law Enrollments ‘Exceeded Expectations’ But Premiums May Rise In 2015
Many of those in Florida who bought insurance plans on the health law’s federal marketplace were previously uninsured — one of the reasons premiums will likely rise in 2015, a senior executive for insurer Florida Blue says.
Health-Care David And Goliath Partner To Open After-Hours Clinic
In Seattle, an unlikely collaboration provides weekend and after-hours care for patients who in the past had turned to hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency treatments.
Is Bigger Better? Idaho Hospital Battle A Microcosm Of Debate Over Industry Consolidation
A federal court’s ruling dissolving the merger of the state’s biggest hospital system and biggest doctors’ practice may discourage future ventures.
15-Minute Visits Take A Toll On The Doctor-Patient Relationship
Patients are more likely to leave frustrated and without the tools they need to take charge of their own health after rushed visits.
Obama Sharply Criticizes Republicans As He Announces 8 Million Have Enrolled
President says others have been denied the law’s benefits because many states haven’t expanded Medicaid.
