Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicare Expands the Roster of Available Mental Health Professionals
Medicare is expanding access to mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists come Jan. 1. But the belief that seniors who suffer from mental health problems should just grin and bear it remains a troubling barrier to care.
Tiny, Rural Hospitals Feel the Pinch as Medicare Advantage Plans Grow
More than half of seniors are enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans instead of traditional Medicare. Rural enrollment has increased fourfold and many small-town hospitals say that threatens their viability.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large — often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio’s November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Health Care ‘Game-Changer’? Feds Boost Care for Homeless Americans
This month, the federal government started paying for treatments delivered outside hospitals and clinics, expanding funding for “street medicine” teams that treat homeless patients. California led the way on the change, which could help sick and vulnerable patients get healthy, sober, and, in some cases, into housing.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Es el momento de revisar el plan de Medicare. Lo nuevo que hay que saber
Desde el 15 de octubre y hasta el 7 de diciembre, los afiliados al programa tradicional o a los planes de Medicare Advantage, que ofrecen aseguradoras privadas, pueden cambiar su cobertura.
Feds Hope to Cut Sepsis Deaths by Hitching Medicare Payments to Treatment Stats
A new rule sets specific treatment metrics for suspected sepsis cases in an effort to reduce deaths, but some experts say the measures could add to antibiotic overuse and need to be more flexible.
Hospitales perderán reembolsos de Medicare si no combaten mejor la mortal sepsis
La sepsis es la respuesta extrema del organismo a una infección y afecta cada año a 1,7 millones de adultos en Estados Unidos.
Feds Rein In Use of Predictive Software That Limits Care for Medicare Advantage Patients
Software sifts through millions of medical records to match patients with similar diagnoses and characteristics and then predicts what kind of care an individual will need and for how long. New federal rules will ensure human experts are part of the process.
New Medicare Advantage Plans Tailor Offerings to Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+
As more seniors opt for Medicare Advantage, a few small insurers have begun offering plans that provide culturally targeted benefits for cohorts including Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The approach, policy researchers say, has potential and perils.
Nuevos planes de Medicare Advantage adaptan ofertas para asiáticos, latinos y LGTBQ+
A medida que Medicare Advantage gana popularidad entre los adultos mayores, tres compañías del sur de California están lanzando nuevos planes que se enfocan en comunidades culturales y étnicas, con ofertas especiales y profesionales que hablan su idioma nativo.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': More Medicaid Messiness
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient’s family for more than a year.
What Happens to Health Programs if the Federal Government Shuts Down?
Medicare and Medicaid shouldn’t be affected, but confusion can be expected.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Shutdown
Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to roil the GOP presidential primary field, this time with comments about abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Tami Luhby of CNN join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Resurge la hepatitis C, ¿podrá el plan de Biden eliminar este viejo flagelo en cinco años?
Se calcula que el 40% de los más de 2 millones de personas con hepatitis C en Estados Unidos ni siquiera saben que la tienen, pero el virus puede estar dañando silenciosamente su hígado, causando cicatrices, insuficiencia hepática o cáncer de hígado.
Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?
Before covid-19, hepatitis C held the distinction of claiming more American lives each year than any other infectious disease — that’s despite the marketing of several relatively affordable, highly effective treatments.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program.
Biden Administration Proposes New Standards to Boost Nursing Home Staffing
The proposal would require major hiring at the most sparsely staffed homes. But the proposal is already badly received by the nursing home industry, which claims it can’t boost wages enough to attract workers.
Tribal Health Workers Aren’t Paid Like Their Peers. See Why Nevada Changed That.
Community health workers, who often help patients get to their appointments and pick up prescriptions for them, have increasingly been recognized as an integral part of treating chronic illnesses. But state-run Medicaid programs don’t always reimburse them equally, usually excluding those who work on tribal lands.
