Insurance

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Longtime Head of L.A. Care To Retire After Navigating Major Medi-Cal Changes

KFF Health News Original

John Baackes, who steered Medi-Cal’s largest health plan following the Affordable Care Act expansion, and later prepared it for a state overhaul of Medi-Cal, will retire after this year. Baackes believes low payments to doctors and other providers, along with an acute labor shortage, hamper Medi-Cal’s success.

US Uninsured Rate Was Stable in 2023, Even as States’ Medicaid Purge Began

KFF Health News Original

About 8% of Americans lacked health insurance in 2023, the Census Bureau announced. But its report doesn’t capture the effect of states winnowing their Medicaid rolls by millions of people since the pandemic emergency ended.

ACA Enrollment Platforms Suspended Over Alleged Foreign Access to Consumer Data

KFF Health News Original

Federal regulators provided more specifics about why they suspended two private sector Affordable Care Act enrollment sites, including concerns about potential overseas accessing of consumer data and suspicions of involvement in Obamacare enrollment and switching schemes. The companies reject the assertions.

An Arm and a Leg: Don’t Get ‘Bullied’ Into Paying What You Don’t Owe

Podcast

In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Caitlyn Mai, a woman in Oklahoma who received a six-figure bill for a surgery her insurance promised to cover. This episode is an extended version of the “Bill of the Month” series, produced in partnership with NPR.

Her Life Was at Risk. She Needed an Abortion. Insurance Refused To Pay.

KFF Health News Original

Insurance coverage for abortion care in the U.S. is a hodgepodge. Patients often don’t know when or if a procedure or abortion pills are covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has exacerbated the confusion.

For Pharma, Trump vs. Harris Is a Showdown Between Two Industry Foes

KFF Health News Original

Vice President Kamala Harris is seen as more aggressive than former President Donald Trump in taking on pharmaceutical companies, but Trump allies say he would also make lowering drug costs a top priority.

Cuando la aseguradora se niega a pagar un aborto que es médicamente necesario

KFF Health News Original

En el país, la cobertura para la atención del aborto es laberíntica. A menudo, los pacientes no saben cuándo un procedimiento, o las píldoras abortivas, están cubiertas, si es que lo están; y la proliferación de prohibiciones ha exacerbado la confusión.

Biden Administration Blocks Two Private Sector Enrollment Sites From ACA Marketplace

KFF Health News Original

Regulators have been under the gun to curb unauthorized Obamacare enrollment and switching of plans. Separately, a pending lawsuit was amended with additional defendants and new allegations regarding tactics to garner greater ACA sales commissions.

Patient Underwent One Surgery but Was Billed for Two. Even After Being Sued, She Refused To Pay.

KFF Health News Original

A collection agency sought court authority to garnish a patient’s wages to pay a disputed surgery bill. But after the patient showed up in court to argue the bill was bogus, the judge declined to let the bill collector seize her money.

Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding,’ Many States Wind Up Expanding

KFF Health News Original

The end of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage protections coincided with changes in more than a dozen states to expand coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women, and the incarcerated.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Happy 50th, ERISA

Podcast

What does a law to protect worker pensions have to do with how health insurance is regulated? Far more than most people may think. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, turns 50 in September. The law fundamentally changed the way the federal and state governments regulate employer-provided health insurance and continues to shape health policy in the United States. In this special episode of “What the Health?”, host and KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner speaks to Larry Levitt of KFF, Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and Ilyse Schuman of the American Benefits Council about the history of ERISA and what its future might hold.