Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
Video: Obama Fields Questions On Limbaugh, ‘War On Women’
During a Tuesday news conference, the president responded to questions about Rush Limbaugh and the heated debate over contraception coverage, and about whether Republican positions on these issues constitute a “war on women.”
New Book Offers Checklists To Help Hospital Patients
Doctors and other care providers are increasing using checklists in their work, but one author has developed similar guides for consumers.
Q&A: Why Did I Receive A Bill From An Out-Of-Network Radiologist?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader who received a bill from an out-of-network radiologist after a routine mammogram at an in-network hospital. The reader asks: What can we citizens do to ensure our rights?
Medicare Spends Less Than Private Insurers On Knee Replacements
Study finds that’s mostly because the government pays far lower rates for hospital care
Insurers Open Stores To Peddle Health Plans
With more people buying insurance on their own, and even more slated to because of the health law, insurers are seeking a retail strategy.
Q&A: I Was Billed, But Aren’t Colonoscopies Free Under The Health Law?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader who had a colonoscopy and was billed a 30 percent co-pay. The reader asks: Aren’t preventive services like that free under the health law?
Five Questions About The Health Law’s Mandate To Cover Birth Control
While controversy over one aspect of the Obama administration’s contraception rule
Minnesota Exchange Grant Arrives In Politically Divided State
The federal government has awarded Minnesota $26 million to help it create a health insurance exchange, but Republicans in the GOP-led state legislature there are engaged in a bitter fight with Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton on its planning and even its existence.
Can Massachusetts Lead The Way On Controlling Health Costs?
As of April 1, base health insurance rates for small businesses will increase, on average, just 1.8 percent. Four prominent economists discuss why the state is having success keeping premium costs down.
Feds Jump-Start Health Insurance Co-Ops With Loans
Seven organizations will receive a total of $639 million in federal low-interest loans to launch new health insurance plans in eight states, the federal government announced Tuesday.
Insurance Coverage Might Steer Women To Costlier – But More Effective – Birth Control
Long-acting methods such as the IUD and the hormonal implant are nearly 100 percent effective and require no effort after insertion. But birth control pills are about 92 percent effective.
Alaska Takes Biggest Step Yet Toward Health Insurance Exchange
Alaska has opposed the federal health law so adamantly that it is the only state that chose not to even apply for a $1 million grant the federal government was passing out to states to plan a health insurance exchange. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be an online marketplace to buy insurance in Alaska.
FAQ: The Obama Administration’s Compromise On Contraception Benefits
The Obama administration, stung by fierce opposition from Catholic leaders to a new rule requiring that insurance plans offer free contraception, announced revised regulations Friday. Kaiser Health News summarizes common questions and answers to explain the new policy.
The White House Fact Sheet On The Contraception Compromise
This fact sheet was released by the White House in advance of President Barack Obama’s Feb. 10 comments about mandated health insurance coverage for contraception.
Rules Requiring Contraceptive Coverage Have Been In Force For Years
Employers have pretty much been required to provide contraceptive coverage as part of their health plans since December 2000. That’s when the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that failure to provide such coverage violates the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. But controversy over a new rule requiring even religious employers to cover contraception remains.
Consumers Hit By Higher Out-of-Network Medical Costs
Insurers switch to new way to calculate reimbursement that shifts more of the expenses onto patients.
Health On The Hill Transcript: Backlash Grows Over Contraception Rule In Health Law
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about an Obama administration rule that would require many religious-affiliated groups to cover birth control in their insurance plans. House Speaker John Boehner has suggested Congress could take legislative action to stop the rule
Minnesota Plans For Exchange, Even Without New Law
Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, said that authorization will be needed at some point from the state legislature for an exchange. But he also suggested that much work could be done ahead of legislative action.
