Latest KFF Health News Stories
Sebelius: Protesters Trying To ‘Silence Debate’
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday in a conference call with members of the Service Employees Internation Union that some people protesting at town hall meetings around America are trying to silence the health care debate.
Get Medicaid Out Of The Long-Term Care Business
While states and the federal government struggle to update Medicaid though a maze of waiver programs and patches to an increasingly outdated law, their efforts are a little like trying to add disc breaks and electronic ignition to a 1965 Plymouth. It is, in the end, still a 1965 Plymouth.
Medicare data tell a different story about a public plan option.
Transitional Care Cuts Hospital Re-Entry Rates, Costs
A study published earlier this year finds 1 out of 5 older patients who are discharged from a hospital will return within a month, costing Medicare about $17 billion a year. A program in Philadelphia assigns nurses to follow up with discharged patients in order to prevent readmission. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Health Commission Plan Wins Some, Angers Others
The problem with putting together a big proposal – like overhauling the nation’s entire health care system – with lots of moving parts and many different interests to please, is that every time you satisfy one important constituency, you upset another.
Hospitals Divided Over Proposal For Medicare Payment Czar
Powerful hospital trade associations are opposing President Obama’s plan for an independent commission to determine how much Medicare pays doctors and hospitals. But certain “model” hospital systems – such as CHRISTUS Health – are breaking ranks and supporting the idea.
President Obama’s News Conference On Health Reform
Excerpts from President Obama’s news conference, held on July 22, 2009.
‘Model’ Health Systems Press Case For Medicare Fix In Reform
When talking about his vision for the U.S. health care system, President Barack Obama points to places like the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, which are known for providing high-quality, low-cost care.
When the Government Runs Health Insurance
Much of the health care reform debate centers on the Democratic push to create a government-run insurance option for working age Americans and their families. But shouldn’t policymakers take a hard look at Medicare–the largest health insurance program in the country–before moving ahead to create something similar for everyone else?
Revolving-Door Patients Illustrate Health System Flaws
Patients who are readmitted to the hospital soon after they’re discharged cost the health care system billions of dollars a year in unnecessary spending. These “frequent fliers,” as doctors sometimes call them, illustrate the worst aspects of poorly coordinated care. Innovative programs may serve as models for fixing the problems.
A Group of Health CEOs Wants To End Medicare Fee-For-Service Payments
Some CEOs of America’s largest health care providers called Friday for an end to fee-for-service payments under Medicare and incentives to create administrative efficiencies to lower costs to help pay for America’s try at health care reform.
New Yorker Article Sparks Strong Reaction
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande’s recent article in The New Yorker is generating intense discussion about the cost of medicine and exerting a powerful influence over the health reform debate.
Health Reform Controversy: Opening Medicare to People Under 65
Will allowing younger people to buy coverage ease a health-care problem or break an already overburdened program?
