Latest KFF Health News Stories
Long Waits For Consumers When Medicare Is ‘Secondary Payer’
A new law sets schedules for providing details about medical claims in cases where a beneficiary suffers a personal injury due to someone else’s negligence.
Retiring Medicare Actuary Reflects On The Politics Of Health Care Spending And Why He Almost Quit
Richard Foster talks about the travails of trying to provide objective information to Congress and the White House.
Obama: ‘Medicare and Medicaid … Strengthen Us’
Video: In his second inaugural speech Monday, President Barack Obama discussed the need to reduce health costs — but also defended the importance of Medicare and Medicaid.
Hospices, Wary Of Costs, May Be Discouraging Patients With High Expenses
A survey finds that more than three-quarters of hospices have restrictive enrollment policies designed to keep away patients with high-cost medical needs.
Slowly Dying Patients, An Audit And A Hospice’s Undoing
For one San Diego Hospice, the trouble began with a federal audit.
Obama: ‘Our Commitment To Medicare
At a White House news conference Monday, President Obama discusses how he sees Medicare, Medicaid and other health care spending factoring into the looming conflict over raising the federal debt ceiling.
Behind The Fiscal Cliff Deal, A Prolonged Hospital Finance Fight
Hospitals complain they are bearing the brunt of sustaining payment levels for doctors but the changes in Medicare were a long time coming.
Letters to the Editor is a periodic KHN feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection.
Medicare Discloses Hospitals’ Bonuses, Penalties Based On Quality
Under a program set up by the health law, payments to 1,557 hospitals will be increased, while 1,427 will drop.
Interactive Chart: Bonuses And Penalties For U.S. Hospitals
This chart shows the effect, by hospital, of Medicare bonuses and penalties based on how well they performed on quality measures.
By State: Hospital Quality Bonuses and Penalties
This chart shows the average effect by state of the value-based purchasing program on hospitals’ Medicare reimbursements per hospital stay for the federal spending year that runs from last October through September 2013.
‘If I’d Had To Wait Until 67 For Medicare, I’d Be Dead’
Those approaching retirement, employers pan proposals to raise the Medicare eligibility age.
A basic guide and resources if you want to get Medicare to reverse a coverage decision.
Seniors Need To Be Tenacious In Appeals To Medicare
Consumer advocates say that efforts to get Medicare to reverse a decision denying coverage of care are frequently rejected at first, but the chances of success are much better for beneficiaries who keep appealing until they reach the level handled by an administrative law judge.
Medicare Silver Bullets: What’s The Best Way To Control Costs?
KHN asked a range of health policy experts the following question: If you could make only one change to Medicare to control costs, what would it be and why?
Huge Experiment Aims To Save On Care For Poorest, Sickest Patients
An effort in California to move Medicaid patients into managed care has national significance as federal officials roll out a similar but larger program for as many as 2 million people who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare.
Medicare Changes Loom As ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Negotiations Pick Up
Health on the Hill: KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about Republican and Democratic proposals and possible cuts in federal health care spending.
How The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Affects Health Care: Six Questions
As Congress and the president aim for a deal by year’s end, there may be serious consequences for health programs.
Insurance Commissioners Reject Calls To Limit Seniors’ Medigap Policies
The group argues that increasing cost-sharing would stop people from seeking necessary care.
Hospitals Offer Wide Array Of Services To Keep Patients From Needing To Return
Free scales, diet tips and home visits from nurses all aim to curtail readmissions.
