Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Insurance Marketplace Imposes New Quality, Cost Conditions On Plans
In a sweeping overhaul of its contracts, the state’s insurance exchange will require health plans to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for quality and cost.
Prices And Health Care Quality: Many Consumers Don’t See A Link
A study in the journal Health Affairs found a majority of people don’t associate price and quality in health care services.
Major Employers Decry Sutter Health’s Tactics In Dispute Over Prices
Sutter Health, with dominant market share in Northern California, is insisting that employers sign arbitration agreements or face sharply higher out-of-network rates.
IRS Could Help Find Many Uninsured People, But Doesn’t
Many low-income households that claim earned income tax credit lack health insurance, Urban Institute finds.
Medi-Cal Expands To Immigrant Children. Here’s How It Works.
New law applies state’s low-income health care program to children in the U.S. illegally.
UnitedHealth Tries Boutique-Style Health Plan
Harken Health, a new UnitedHealthcare subsidiary, offers members free unlimited doctor visits and health coaches at 10 clinics in Chicago and Atlanta.
Workers’ Desire Grows For Wage Increases Over Health Benefits
A recent survey finds that the number of workers who say they would give up some health benefits to get a pay raise has grown from 10 to 20 percent since 2012.
Mortgages For Expensive Health Care? Some Experts Think It Can Work.
An MIT economist and Harvard oncologist propose offering loans to patients to cover the cost of expensive, curative drugs, financed by private sector investment in loan securities.
When Medicare Advantage Drops Doctors, Some Members Can Switch Plans
In the past eight months, Medicare officials have quietly granted the special enrollment periods to more than 15,000 Medicare Advantage members in seven states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Supreme Court Takes Up Birth Control Access — Again
Justices consider a key aspect of the Affordable Care Act for the fourth time in five years.
California Insurance Marketplace Wants To Kick Out Poor-Performing Hospitals
Providers and insurers are balking at a Covered California proposal to eject hospitals with inordinately high costs and low quality from its networks.
Long-Term Care Insurance: Less Bang, More Buck
Seniors slammed with big premium increases face tough choices.
Three Changes Consumers Can Expect In Next Year’s Obamacare Coverage
The Department of Health and Human Services issues new rules designed to simplify health coverage consumers buy through Healthcare.gov.
Cigna Profits As Medicare Softens Penalty Policy
A new policy preserves Cigna’s access to bonuses while the insurer fixes “widespread” failures in its Medicare plans.
FAQ: What Are The Penalties For Not Getting Insurance?
A consumer’s guide to the tax penalties for not having insurance.
N.H., Calif. Seek To Help Consumers Get Details On Health Care Prices
New Hampshire is expanding its website that lists the cost of specific medical procedures to include dental treatments and 65 prescription drugs. California is expanding its report cards on large medical groups to include cost of medical services by an average patient.
TrumpCare Takes It On The Chin
GOP health policy analysts skewer front-runner’s health proposal.
Consumer Choices Have Limited Impact On U.S. Health Care Spending: Study
An analysis from the Health Care Cost Institute finds that less than half of health care costs are for services considered “shoppable,” and consumers’ out-of-pocket spending on that is just 7 percent of all spending.
Aetna CEO Answers Burwell’s Call, Vows Support For Exchanges Amid Losses
But Mark Bertolini wants the country’s marketplaces to better serve young people, who define
healthy as “looking good in their underwear.”
Will Healthcare.gov Get A California Makeover?
Feds propose taking a page out of Covered California’s book and moving to a simplified health insurance marketplace.
