Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Industry Wields Power in California’s High-Stakes Battle to Lower Health Care Costs
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to regulate out-of-control health care spending in California. The effort is being shaped by the very health industry players that would be regulated.
Major Insurers Running Billions of Dollars Behind on Payments to Hospitals and Doctors
Patients are caught in the middle as insurers clamp down on paying for treatments or force prior authorizations for care.
The Pandemic Forced My Transgender Wife to Fight Our Insurer Over Hormones
The covid pandemic has caused millions of people, particularly LGBTQ adults, to lose their jobs and enroll in Medicaid or insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Yet these plans often don’t fully cover the basics needed by many transgender Americans, such as injectable estrogen, a hormone therapy commonly used by trans women.
Journalists Drill Down on Covid Vaccine Boosters, Misinformation Online
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
¿Un test de covid más caro que un Tesla? En Texas es posible
A lo largo de la pandemia, abundaron las historias de precios sorprendentemente altos para las pruebas de covid. Pero éste supera a todos.
A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
Death in Dallas: One Family’s Experience in the Medicaid Gap
Efforts to give 2.2 million Americans health insurance hang in the balance as Congress debates a massive spending bill. The so-called Medicaid gap is felt most acutely in Texas, where about half of those who stand to gain coverage live.
As Democrats Bicker Over Massive Spending Plan, Here’s What’s at Stake for Medicaid
More than 2 million low-income adults are uninsured because their states have not accepted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Congressional Democrats want to offer them coverage in the massive spending bill being debated, but competition to get into that package is fierce.
The Solution to Au Pairs’ Health Coverage Gaps May Be Simple: ACA Plans
Private agencies that bring young adults to the U.S. to care for children generally offer basic health insurance, but plans may exclude many types of necessary care. What the agencies might not mention is that au pairs are eligible to enroll in comprehensive coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and likely qualify for premium subsidies that would make the insurance affordable.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: They Turned Grief Into Action
This episode highlights how New York enacted a charity care law, one of the precursors to the federal provision on charity care in the Affordable Care Act.
Dentistas eliminan los problemas de las personas sin seguro ofreciéndoles ellos mismos planes
Estos planes limitados a una práctica están dirigidos principalmente a los 65 millones de estadounidenses que no tienen cobertura dental, y tienen que pagar de su bolsillo toda su atención.
Dentists Chip Away at Uninsured Problem by Offering Patients Membership Plans
The plans are designed for people who don’t get dental coverage through their jobs and can’t afford an individual plan. For about $300 to $400 a year, patients receive certain preventive services at no charge and other procedures at a discount.
Leader of California’s Muscular Obamacare Exchange to Step Down
Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Much Ado About Drug Prices
Democrats have hit a snag in their effort to compile a $3.5 trillion social-spending bill this fall — moderates are resisting support for Medicare drug price negotiation provisions that would pay for many of the measure’s health benefit improvements. Meanwhile, the new abortion restrictions in Texas have moved the divisive issue back to the political front burner. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interview’s KHN’s Phil Galewitz about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment, about two similar jaw surgeries with very different price tags.
Census: Insured Population Holds Steady, With a Slight Shift From Private to Public Coverage
The Census Bureau on Tuesday released its 2020 findings regarding Americans’ income, poverty and health insurance coverage.
Health Care Unions Defending Newsom From Recall Will Want Single-Payer Payback
If Gov. Gavin Newsom survives Tuesday’s recall election, the health care unions that have campaigned on his behalf intend to pressure him to follow through on his promise to establish a government-run health system in California.
Georgia Eyes New Medicaid Contract. But How Is the State Managing Managed Care?
More than 40 states have turned to managed-care companies to control costs in their Medicaid programs, which cover low-income residents and people with disabilities. As Georgia prepares to open bidding on a new contract, the question looms: Has this model paid off?
California Set to Spend Billions on Curing Homelessness and Caring for ‘Whole Body’ Politic
California is embarking on a five-year experiment to infuse its health insurance program for low-income people with billions of dollars in nonmedical services spanning housing, food delivery and addiction care. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the goal is to improve care for the program’s sickest and costliest members and save money, but will it work?
Watch: Same Providers, Similar Surgeries, But Different Bills
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal joins “CBS This Morning” to discuss the latest Bill of the Month installment, in which a man discovered the hard way that health plans can vary from one job to the next, even if the insurer is the same.
Beneficiarios de Medicaid se vacunan mucho menos contra covid
Si bien más de 202 millones de estadounidenses están vacunados al menos en parte contra covid, casi el 30% de las personas mayores de 12 años siguen sin vacunarse. Las encuestas muestran que los más pobres tienen menos probabilidades de recibir una vacuna.
