Latest KFF Health News Stories
Many Well-Known Hospitals Fail To Score 5 Stars In Medicare’s New Ratings
Of the 102 hospitals that received a five-star rating, few are among the elite generally praised for great care.
Some Seniors Surprised To Be Automatically Enrolled In Medicare Advantage Plans
Concerns raised as health insurers automatically move members of their marketplace or individual plans who are eligible for Medicare.
Gov’t Task Force Finds Evidence Lacking to Support Visual Skin Cancer Screenings
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that insufficient evidence exists regarding the benefits and harms of visual skin cancer exams.
Medicare Prepares To Go Forward With New Hospital Quality Ratings
The government will soon give hospitals one to five stars to sum up their quality. Some safety hospitals and teaching hospitals won’t fare as well as other facilities.
Study: Medicare Beneficiaries May Face ‘Treatment Gap’ For Painkiller Abuse, Misuse
The incidence of opioid use disorder is growing rapidly within the Medicare population.
Fraud Concerns Emerge As Compounding Drug Sales Skyrocket
Federal spending has soared for drugs that are handmade in local pharmacies, and federal investigators are raising concerns about fraud or overbilling.
Despite Opioid Concerns, Seniors Often Exit The Hospital With Prescription: Study
Researchers found that nearly 15 percent of seniors filled prescriptions for an opioid painkiller after leaving the hospital and of those, 42.5 percent had the order refilled later.
Younger Seniors Amass More End-Of-Life Care Than Oldest Americans, Study Finds
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis sheds new light on a widely-held belief about the costs of end-of-life care.
Democrats Unite, But What Happened To ‘Medicare For All’?
Advocates for a single payer health care system say it would be more efficient, but other analysts predict that such an unprecedented change could be extremely disruptive to a key part of the nation’s economy.
Obama Renews Call For A Public Option In Health Law
The president made the proposal as part of a comprehensive look at the Affordable Care Act’s legacy in an article under his byline in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
House Panel Extends Funding For Medicare Program To Help Consumers
The decision runs counter to a Senate committee that voted to strip the $52 million appropriation for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which helps beneficiaries understand their Medicare coverage and helps them with billing issues.
Advance Planning For Your End-Of-Life Care
A new health benefit available to millions of Californians encourages people to discuss end-of-life care options with their doctors.
Medical Marijuana Linked To Modest Budget Benefits For Medicare Part D, Study Finds
A Health Affairs study determines that Part D spending went down slightly on prescription drugs for which medical marijuana is viewed as a possible alternative.
Study: Brand-Name Drugs’ High Copays Soak Medicare Part D Patients
A study in Health Affairs finds Medicare Part D beneficiaries were charged copays averaging 10.5 times more for Crestor and Nexium than generic drugs would have cost them.
HHS Proposes To Streamline Medicare Appeals Process
The changes announced Tuesday seek to eliminate the backlog by 2021.
Colon Cancer Screening: Five Things To Know
The U.S Preventive Services Task Force recently expanded the list of approved colorectal cancer screening tests. Here’s a primer on these various tests and how they might be covered now and in the future by health insurance.
Senate Panel Kills Medicare Program That Offers Help On Enrollment, Billing Issues
It’s not clear yet if the full Senate or House will concur in the plan to cut funding for the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which operates in all states and gives beneficiaries free advice on enrollment in drug and insurance plans, appealing coverage decisions and applying for financial subsidies.
Advisory Panel Targets Rising Medicare Drug Costs In Its Latest Report To Congress
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission outlined a package of changes to Medicare’s drug program that could save billions of dollars.
Medicare Releases Draft Proposal For Patient Observation Notice
Although there is widespread agreement on the need to let people know if they haven’t been admitted, the language proposed by federal officials hasn’t satisfied everyone.
Medicare’s Efforts To Curb Backlog Of Appeals Not Sufficient, GAO Reports
Investigators from the GAO call for HHS to improve oversight of the Medicare appeals process and streamline it to make sure repetitive claims are handled more efficiently.
