Latest KFF Health News Stories
At Teaching Hospitals, Aggressive Screening May Lead To Medicare Penalties
Nearly half of academic medical centers will be penalized by the government this year for high rates of infections and other avoidable complications, but the hospitals say it shows they screen better for problems.
Rise In Oncologists Working For Hospitals Spurs Higher Chemo Costs: Study
Researchers found that the facility fees hospitals and their clinics routinely add to the bill helps drive the price increases.
Study: More Collaboration Aids Health Care For At-Risk Populations
A new study from the National Academies of Sciences seeks best practices for health providers whose patients are disproportionately disadvantaged.
When Medicare Advantage Drops Doctors, Some Members Can Switch Plans
In the past eight months, Medicare officials have quietly granted the special enrollment periods to more than 15,000 Medicare Advantage members in seven states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Medicare Proposes Expansion Of Counseling Program For People At Risk Of Diabetes
A study finds that the program, developed by the YMCA, helped beneficiaries improve their diets, get more exercise and lose weight.
Coinsurance Trend Means Seniors Likely To Face Higher Out-Of-Pocket Drug Costs, Report Says
More Medicare Part D drug plans are requiring coinsurance rather than copayments for more types of medications, making beneficiaries’ costs less predictable.
How Medicare Drug Plans Hope To Follow Private Sector Lead
The proposal that Medicare made this month to better control prescription drug costs involves testing strategies used with some success in the private sector.
Doctors Ponder Delicate Talks As Medicare Pays For End-Of-Life Counsel
Physicians can now bill Medicare $86 for up to 30 minutes of counseling given to patients about end-of-life planning, but many doctors may need training to have those talks.
Should Federal Retirees Opt For Medicare?
When people retire from federal government jobs, they can keep their federal plan as primary coverage but may face penalties for late Medicare sign-ups later on.
Cigna Profits As Medicare Softens Penalty Policy
A new policy preserves Cigna’s access to bonuses while the insurer fixes “widespread” failures in its Medicare plans.
Medicare To Test New Payment Approaches For Some Prescription Medications
Regulators unveiled a two-part plan that will change payments and test ways in which the Medicare Part B program can change the incentives that some policy experts say encourage doctors to choose higher-cost medications.
Report Details Senior Health Care That Misses The Mark
New research from the Dartmouth Atlas Project identifies areas where older patients get care that doesn’t meet guidelines or their own goals.
Medicare Plans Score Higher Ratings And Millions In Bonuses
The share of Medicare Advantage members enrolled in plans with high star ratings has almost doubled since 2013, earning bonuses for private insurers who offer them.
Dueling Star Ratings May Confuse Some Home Health Patients
Medicare offers star ratings of agencies’ quality and of patients’ perceptions, but often they don’t match up.
Urban Medicare Beneficiaries May See More Drug Savings This Year
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says access to special, lower-cost pharmacies has improved for Medicare beneficiaries in urban areas.
Insurers And Medicare Agree On Measures Tracking Doctors’ Quality
The first set of measures focus on seven types of care, including for hearts and cancer. The metrics will be integrated into formulas that determine physicians’ pay.
Some Dialysis Patients Give Medicare Failing Grade On Ambulance Trial
A Medicare trial aimed at averting billing fraud and waste in nonemergency ambulance service in eight states is drawing complaints from patients’ families and ambulance companies.
Buying Supplemental Insurance Can Be Hard For Younger Medicare Beneficiaries
Congress left it to states to determine whether private Medigap plans are sold to the more than 9 million disabled people younger than 65 who qualify for Medicare. The result: rules vary across the country.
Surprise! Here’s Another Bill For That ‘Paramedic Response’
California cities increasingly are billing patients for paramedic services that they say were not covered by insurers. One 85-year-old woman took on city hall.
Fueled By Health Law, ‘Concierge Medicine’ Reaches New Markets
Doctors, insurers and others are kick-starting experiments to broaden access to direct primary care, a service long associated with only wealthy Americans.
