Latest KFF Health News Stories
Coalition Hopes To Amp Up Push For Health Care Transparency
A new coalition of insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and provider and consumer advocacy groups launched an initiative to make more information available to consumers about the actual costs of health services.
Study Finds Lackluster Sign-Ups On State-Run Health Insurance Exchanges
Enrollment in private plans fell 2 percent in Washington state, but officials say the study doesn’t take account of the fast-growing Medicaid numbers.
Georgia Insurers, Doctors Partner To Improve Patient Care, Cut Costs
Primary care providers are teaming up with insurers, hospitals and others to improve patients’ health by coordinating their care and, the theory goes, curbing out-of-control health care costs.
Many People With Substance Abuse Problems May Find Few To Treat Them
More people are getting insurance coverage for addiction treatment, but there’s already a shortage of trained professionals.
Rule Proposed On Providing Mental Health ‘Parity’ In Medicaid Program
Seven years after passing a mental health parity law, the federal government issues its first proposal on how public programs such as Medicaid and CHIP should comply.
Shifts In Earnings For Consumers Near Medicaid Line Can Threaten Coverage
Marketplaces face challenges ensuring that low-income customers continue to get coverage if their incomes change to put them above or below the Medicaid eligibility line.
High-Deductible Health Plans Can Ruin Finances
While coverage that requires enrollees to have ‘skin in the game’ is supposed to spur smarter consumer choices, the costs can be staggering for some.
Cancer Survivor Worries About Supreme Court Ruling On Obamacare Subsidies
A Philadelphia-area caterer who had been uninsured for five years before the ACA frets about her future if the Supreme Court strikes down federal exchange subsidies.
Consumers Contributing Less To Health Savings Accounts, Study Finds
The accounts are designed to provide a way for people with high-deductible insurance plans to save money tax free to use on health expenses.
KHN Video: Tax Deadline Meets The Health Law
As April 15 approaches, most of the consumers who didn’t get insurance coverage face penalties while others who used federal subsidies to buy their plans must reconcile their actual earnings with the estimates that they made last year.
Premera Negligent In Data Breach, 5 Lawsuits Claim
The breach at the Washington state-based health insurer continues to reverberate as officials answer questions about what happened.
The Red State Solution On Medicaid: Georgia’s Not Part Of It
The final piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s series on Arkansas’ privatized Medicaid expansion looks at how several red states are considering such a model as a politically palatable way to extend coverage to the poor.
To Avoid Extra Payments, Notify Your Marketplace Plan When You Move
KHN’s consumer columnist answers readers’ questions about what happens to your plan when you move out of state, smoking cessation expenses and sending workers to the exchange to buy policies.
Policy Shift By Nation’s Largest Insurer Could Leave Some With Unexpected Bills
UnitedHealthcare is no longer routinely paying for out-of-network emergency room physicians and other specialists even when they work for hospitals in the insurer’s network.
Many People Entitled To Hefty Subsidies Still Opt Against Coverage
A study by health consultant Avalere finds that three-quarters of those eligible for the highest levels of premium help enrolled in marketplace plans, but many others with only slightly higher incomes did not.
High-Deductible Plans Bring Lower Costs Now, But Will They Bring Pricey Problems?
Companies that introduced these plans experienced overall savings in the first three years, according to a new study.
It’s Obamacare’s First Tax Season. Can The IRS Handle It?
Delayed refunds, mistakes feared as an understaffed IRS confronts the complexities of the Affordable Care Act.
Tax-Time Tribulations: Health Law Complicates Filing Season For Many
The financial consequences of not getting insurance and the effort to reconcile premium subsidies with income are new dynamics in the current tax season.
Errors Can Turn Affordable Care Benefits To Customer Torment
Pairing federal payments with private insurance brings benefits to many but creates dueling bureaucracies for some customers caught between them.
Health Law Brings No Drop In Insurance Enrollment At Work, Study Finds
A survey by benefits consultant Mercer finds that most large employers already met the law’s requirement to provide coverage to those who work 30 hours or more.
