Latest KFF Health News Stories
Workplace Wellness Programs: Early Alarm For Workers’ Health Or A Recipe For Over-Testing?
Some experts worry that these programs encourage health screening that doesn’t necessarily comply with medical guidelines and is helping to drive up health care costs.
Adults With Insurance Often Still Have Unmet Dental Needs, Survey Finds
Dental care is the health service that people most frequently avoid because of cost, researchers at the Urban Institute found.
Newly Insured Treasure Medicaid, But Growing Pains Felt
People newly covered by the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion appreciate their insurance. But seeing specialists is still a hurdle for many.
Insurers Find Out-Of-Network Bills As Much As 1,400 Percent Higher
Insurers’ study points to the need for limits on out-of-network billing by doctors and hospitals. The American Medical Association calls the report “grossly misleading.”
Pecked By A Chicken? Sucked Into A Jet Engine? There’s a Code For That
Voluminous and sometimes wacky new medical diagnostic codes in “ICD-10” have staffers at hospitals and doctors’ offices reaching for bromides.
GAO: More Oversight Needed Over Medicare Advantage Provider Networks
Congressional watchdog says the government checks few health plans to ensure accurate provider listings and adequate access for seniors on Medicare Advantage.
Privacy Advocates Urge Stronger Protection Of Employee Health Data
Existing laws designed to control what doctors and hospitals do with your information need to be expanded to employers’ wellness programs, say advocates.
7 Questions To Ask Your Employer About Wellness Privacy
Workplace wellness programs have joined doctors, hospitals and your mother in the campaign to get you healthy. Will they treat your data carefully?
Workplace Wellness Programs Put Employee Privacy At Risk
A large variety of information may be collected by wellness programs and shared with others, including businesses eager to make a buck off of it.
Employers Shift More Health Costs To Workers, Survey Finds
Even as premiums for employer-based insurance increased only moderately this year, deductibles rose faster than total spending.
In Colorado, Health Insurance Surges But Cost Still A Concern
A comprehensive statewide survey shows Colorado cut its uninsured rate in half, with one in five state residents on Medicaid. But out-of-pocket health expenses can still be hard for families to afford.
Nearly 9 Million People Gained Insurance In Health Marketplace’s First Year
The Census Bureau reports that the uninsured rate fell from 13.3 percent of the population to 10.4 percent. Still 33 million people had no insurance.
Small Changes Can Have Notable Effects In Workers’ Coverage Or Costs
As the fall enrollment window begins for job-based insurance, workers may see a number of changes in provisions such as wellness programs, dependents’ coverage and specialty drug spending.
Readers Ask About Concierge Medicine And Medicare; Insulin Costs And The Doughnut Hole
KHN consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers questions about Medicare beneficiaries’ costs associated with doctors who have concierge medicine practices, insulin pumps and respite care.
Getting The Word Out: Obamacare Is For Native Americans Too
Many Native Americans rely entirely on free care from the financially strapped Indian Health Service. Advocates say signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act can broaden their choices.
Consumers With COBRA Coverage Should Weigh Moving To Health Law Plans
COBRA, which employees can buy when they leave a workplace if they pick up the entire cost of the plan, can be more expensive.
Answering Your Questions On The ‘Cadillac Tax’
The excise tax will be levied on health insurance plans costing more than $10,200 for an individual or $27,500 for a family. Any value over those thresholds will be taxed at 40 percent, and that’s likely to affect consumers’ benefits, share of health care costs or their coverage entirely.
Why Don’t We Have Mental Health Parity?
The law says insurance companies must pay for mental health benefits the same as they do everything else. Addiction as much as diabetes. Depression as much as cancer. But around the country, consumers are taking their insurers to court saying the companies are refusing to pay up. The insurance providers say mental health is complicated, […]
Study: 2 Million Exchange Enrollees Miss Out On Cost-Sharing Assistance
Consumers must enroll in a silver-level plan in order to be eligible for reductions in out-of-pocket spending.
The Hospital Is In Network, But Not The Doctor: N.Y. Tries New Balance Billing Law
Consumers in New York are getting new protections against “balance billing,” where insurers bill patients for the difference between what insurers pay and what providers want, and states considering similar laws are watching closely.
