Latest KFF Health News Stories
FAQ: Congress Passes A Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
A rare bipartisan effort will scrap the troubled physician payment formula and transition to a system focused on new quality measures.
Medicare Is Stingy In First Year Of Doctor Bonuses
More than 300 large medical groups are being penalized because they did not score well on quality measures or didn’t report their efforts to the government. The incentives will soon expand to all doctors who treat Medicare patients.
Health On The Hill: No Senate ‘Doc Fix’ Vote Before Recess. Will Break Hurt Chances?
After a decade of short term fixes, the House passed legislation to replace Medicare’s troubled Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, and replace it with an alternative doctor payment formula. Kaiser Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss what’s next for the bill when the Senate returns from recess next month.
House Approves Permanent Fix For Medicare Doctor Payments
For more than a decade, doctors who treat Medicare patients have been threatened with pay cuts due to a faulty formula of how doctors are reimbursed. But in a rare bipartisan agreement, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a deal to permanently end the problem and reward quality of care, not quantity.
Rural Hospitals, One Of The Cornerstones Of Small Town Life, Face Increasing Pressure
For people in Mount Vernon, Texas, the loss of their hospital means longer trips for treatment and uncertainty when a medical crisis hits.
Hundreds Of Hospitals Struggle To Improve Patient Satisfaction
Pleasing patients has become more important to hospitals as Medicare takes consumers views into account when setting payments. Most hospitals are getting better, but others have not improved since the government started publishing ratings six years ago.
Obamacare, Private Medicare Plans Must Keep Updated Doctor Directories In 2016
New federal rules requiring current information apply to insurers selling plans on healthcare.gov and the private policies that are an alternative to Medicare.
Some Dementia Can Be Treated, But My Mother Waited 10 Years For A Diagnosis
For many physicians, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, doesn’t come to mind when they see people with cognitive and gait problems, although it is one of the few treatable causes of dementia.
May I Move My Son From My Insurance Plan To A Better Option On The Marketplace?
KHN consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers readers’ questions about enrolling at this point in marketplace plans, CHIP enrollment and Medicare disability.
Few Seniors Benefiting From Medicare Obesity Counseling
A little known part of Obamacare pays primary care doctors to help overweight seniors drop pounds and improve their health. So why aren’t more seniors taking advantage of the free benefit?
UCLA Bacteria Outbreak Highlights The Challenges Of Curbing Infections
The lethal infection is one of three that the CDC says urgently require close monitoring and prevention to halt their spread.
In The Medicare Bonus Round, The Winners Are…Small, Specialty Hospitals!
Some hospital revenue is now going to be tied to how happy you – the patient – are when you stay there. But not all hospitals are going to be capable of winning the Medicare sweepstakes.
Government To Grade Nursing Homes On Tougher Scale
Nursing homes now will be graded on their use of anti-psychotic drugs and will have to do more to get top ratings on the federal website Nursing Home Compare.
Disruptions Mount As Illinois Shifts Medicaid Patients To Managed Care
Medicaid managed care enrollees in Illinois are reporting difficulties seeing their doctors and getting prescriptions filled, which a state Medicaid official attributes to the speed and scope of the changes.
Medicare Offers Relief To 400,000 Caught In Aetna Pharmacy Network Mix-Ups
About 400,000 beneficiaries have until the end of this month to reconsider their Medicare Part D plan choices after Aetna incorrectly identified some pharmacies as being in-network, dropped others and removed some from “preferred” network status.
Learning About Hospice Should Begin Long Before You Are Sick
With the growth of the hospice industry, consumers have a number of choices for end-of-life care. Here’s a primer to help be prepared.
HHS Pledges To Quicken Pace Toward Quality-Based Medicare Payments
As part of their effort to improve quality while cutting costs, federal officials announced Monday that they want programs such as accountable care organizations and bundled care to account for 50 percent of traditional Medicare spending by the end of 2018.
1,700 Hospitals Win Quality Bonuses From Medicare, But Most Will Never Collect
Penalties for readmissions and patient injuries erase bonuses hospitals earn for meeting stiff quality criteria. Fewer than 800 will end up with higher payments.
Hatch Vows To Dismantle Health Law But Predicts Bipartisan Success On Other Issues
The new Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says the GOP will chip away at Obamacare “piece by piece.” Still, he says he will work with Democrats to continue funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and overhauling Medicare pay for doctors.
Study Disputes Perception That New Beneficiaries Are Fueling Medicare Advantage Growth
The majority of people choosing the private plans for Medicare coverage were switching out of the traditional program, research in the journal Health Affairs finds.
