Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obama To Meet Tuesday With Insurance Executives
The President will also discuss the health law’s new benefits, cost savings.
New Survey: Consumers Who Buy Their Own Health Insurance Report Big Rate Increase Requests
When the big California health insurer Wellpoint sought rate increases up to 39 percent this year, some wondered if they were unusual. But in a new national survey consumers who buy their own policies report the most recent rate requests averaged 20 percent.
Feds To States: Set Up Health Insurance Pools For High-Risk Patients By July 1
The federal government is giving states until June 25 to say how they intend to run high-risk pools to insure people who have been denied coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition and have been uninsured for at least six months.
Market-Based Reform Initiatives Are Key To Health Law Success
Consumer-directed health plans have been useful in controlling the rise of health costs over the last several years, but the survival of these plans is threatened by the new health overhaul law.
Transcript: Health On The Hill
The Senate is debating ways to reverse a 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments that began on June 1.
Cheers, Jeers For New Federal Rules On Changes In Health Benefits
A new Obama administration regulation lays out how employers and insurers can revise their health plans
Administration officials tout the Medicare drug rebate as an early and tangible benefit of health reform while Senate Democrats continue trying to advance a legislative package that includes the Medicare physician payment fix and, potentially, an extension of enhanced Medicaid funding for states.
Pregnant Women And New Mothers Will Get Benefits, Services Under Health Care Law
New health plans must cover tests, supplements for pregnant women, and home visits for young mothers.
What The New Health Law Means For You
The law will extend health insurance to 32 million currently uninsured Americans by 2019, and will also have an impact on how nearly every American buys insurance and what insurance must cover.
Transcript: Health On The Hill – June 1, 2010
Bowing to pressure from Democratic fiscal conservatives, House Democratic leaders scaled back health-related provisions in tax extenders legislation the House passed before beginning its Memorial Day recess.
Insurance Industry Faces Tough Scrutiny From Federal Watchdogs
A foursome of longtime industry watchdogs are helping steer the federal government’s effort to overhaul the private insurance market. Karen Pollitz, Steve Larsen, Jay Angoff and Richard Popper have top spots in the newly minted Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
Health Care Tax Credit Comes With Benefits, Strings For Small Businesses
Michelle Andrews’ latest consumer column explores the health care tax credit for small businesses, which is designed to help employers pay for insuring workers. But the credit has several conditions, and some are worried that it won’t provide enough help.
Week In Review: Doctor Payment Fight; State Budgets And Medicaid; Medicare Brochure Protests
Challenges from conservative Democrats forced party leaders this week to cut some major spending programs, such as extending COBRA benefits for workers being laid off and providing extra money to state Medicaid programs.
Sebelius To Employers: Cover Young Adults Now
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said federal officials are urging self-insured employers to keep young adults up to age 26 on their parents’ health plans before the deadline under the new health overhaul law. Self-insured employers, who pay the medical bills of millions of Americans, in many cases could wait until January to comply with the law.
Some Recent Grads Face Health Care Coverage Gap
With the new health law’s requirement that young adults be able to remain on their parents’ health plans until they turn 26. But when exactly the new benefit begins, who exactly is eligible and who decides all have the same answer: It depends.
Democrats Scale Back Medicare ‘Doc Fix,’ COBRA Subsidy Extension In Jobs Bill
Caught up in the congressional politics swirling around a pending tax bill are proposals that affect health care for newly laid-off workers as well as Medicare and Medicaid patients.
The Decline Of Employer-Sponsored Coverage Under Health Reform: Good, Bad Or Ugly?
The new health overhaul law will encourage employers to stop offering health insurance. We should welcome this, provided the decline in employer coverage is gradual and good alternatives exist. The upside is that it will make more visible the biggest looming health care problem: costs.
$5 Billion In Federal Funding For High-Risk Pools May Not Be Enough
A new report says federal funding will not cover the insurance needs of all the people who now have trouble getting coverage because of preexisting conditions. But HHS officials disagree with the findings.
College Student Health Plans Often Get Low Marks
College health plans – used by students who aren’t covered by family insurance plans or whose parents are uninsured – can offer only limited protection. The new health law may help.
Many Young Adults Will Wait For Health Coverage After All
Some parents, hoping that their young adult children could get insurance soon, are finding that many large employers aren’t planning to offer the new benefit early.
