Latest KFF Health News Stories
Travel Insurance Can Protect Your Health Or Wallet On Vacation
For a few dollars you can buy travel health insurance coverage that protects you if you have to cancel or shorten a trip if you, your traveling companions or even a family member not traveling with you becomes ill and requires care.
States Consider Limiting Patient Costs For Physical, Speech, Occupational Therapy
Advocates want curbs on what consumers pay toward physical, occupation and speech therapy visits. Insurers say that could raise premiums.
Q&A: Can I Be Denied Coverage For My Daughter Who Is Returning To College?
The health law allows parents to enroll their adult children in their insurance plan until they are 26. A reader asks Michelle Andrews if that applies to individual plans.
Out-Of Network Care Is Expensive But A Couple Of New Options Help
Seeking care from hospitals and doctors who haven’t agreed to negotiated rates with your insurer is costly but consumers can get help from a new database on pricing. The health law is also easing some out-of-network emergency expenses.
Say What? Most Insurance Covers Little Of The Cost Of Hearing Aids
These devices can easily run thousands of dollars but Medicare doesn’t pay anything and other policies generally have limited reimbursements. One insurer is offering a low-cost program to help.
Medicare Now Covers Annual Screening For Depression
The coverage change could help focus doctors and patients on mental health issues, which often go undiagnosed in the elderly, especially those who are dealing with multiple chronic physical problems.
Insurers Push Back On Consumer Rebate Letter
Consumers owed rebates will get a letter along with a check beginning in August, but insurers don’t want to have to send notices about the rebate rules to customers not owed money.
Even Without The Individual Mandate, Health Law Would Still Affect Millions
KHN’s Julie Appleby reports that the health law is so comprehensive that even if the Supreme Court struck the insurance requirement, many provisions would survive.
Transcript: Highlights Of The Lively Arguments At The Supreme Court, Day 2
Here are excerpts of some of the most compelling parts of Tuesday’s oral arguments at the high court.
Some Insurers Paying Patients Who Agree To Get Cheaper Care
In these programs, people who have been prescribed a diagnostic test or elective procedure earn a bonus when they opt to go to a less expensive facility than the one recommended by their physician.
The Health Law And The Supreme Court: A Primer For The Oral Arguments
The fate of the health law is at the center of the most-anticipated arguments in more than than a generation. Here are key points to keep in mind while watching the action.
Scorecard: What The Health Law Has Delivered, Or Not
Kaiser Health News compares data on the progress of the health law’s implementation to the original projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama administration.
The New Jersey Experience: Do Insurance Reforms Unravel Without An Individual Mandate?
New Jersey attempted reforms without imposing a mandate. The outcome in that state offers reasons why supporters say the individual mandate is necessary if the federal health law is to achieve its goals.
Some States Limit How Uninsured Pay For High-Risk Insurance
The states are concerned that third-party funding may drive up the number of people seeking to join the pre-existing condition insurance plans and exhaust the budgets provided by the federal government.
A Tale Of Two Health Insurance Extremes
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents — 25 percent — while Massachusetts’ is the lowest — less than 2 percent. We profile two people who are living the reality of that difference.
Delayed Release Of Student Health Plan Rule Scrambles Financial Aid Calculations
This long-awaited regulation — designed to boost benefits offered by student health insurance plans — could affect plan costs and, in some instances, the cost of attending college.
What You Can Expect This Year From The Health Law
Even as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the historic lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, consumers are already seeing some changes. Jackie Judd talks with KHN’s “Insuring Your Health” columnist Michelle Andrews about insurance rebates, flexible spending accounts, preventive care (including contraceptives) and easy-to-read insurance labels.
Mississippi Builds Insurance Exchange, Even As It Fights Health Law
Mississippi, a deeply red Southern state that is part of the Supreme Court case against the health law, is moving full speed ahead with one of the key provisions of that law: an online health insurance exchange.
Premium Rebates, Coverage Labels, Reduced Medicare Drug Costs Highlight 2012 Health Law Changes
Despite deep political division about the health overhaul, implementation marches on.
Rules For New Insurance Marketplaces Give Insurers Clout
The long-awaited rules may disappoint consumer groups which had sought to reduce the clout of insurers on the governing boards.
