Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Law Adds New Expense For Farmers: Insurance For Field Workers
California’s mild climate means that farm work is a year-round business, and come 2015, the Affordable Care Act will require farm labor contractors to offer health insurance to field workers for the first time.
Missouri Consumers In The Dark As Health Insurance Exchange Nears
The administration of Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has walked a political tightrope as the state gets ready for a federal initiative that the Republican-led Legislature strongly opposes and state voters have weighed in against – twice.
Taking A New Tack To Persuade ‘Young Invincibles’ To Buy Health Insurance
The health insurance premiums of younger, healthier adults will be important to balancing the cost of covering older, sicker Americans, but the challenge is to convince them they need the coverage.
Amid Health Law Expansion, Some States Trim Medicaid Rolls
Maine, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Vermont are tightening eligibility requirements to shift some residents receiving Medicaid benefits into the online insurance marketplaces created by the health law.
Feds Award $67 Million In Grants To Help Consumers Navigate The Health Law
More than 100 organizations receive money to help consumers sign up for coverage in online marketplaces in 34 states.
Talking Scales and Telemedicine: ACO Tools To Keep Patients Out Of The Hospital
A Minnesota hospital’s care for congestive heart failure patients set the stage for it to become an Accountable Care Organization under the health law.
Wash. Rejection Of 5 Companies’ Health Plans Draws Criticism
Critics say the rejection of individual plans from five companies that applied to sell inside the insurance marketplace will limit consumer choices and hurt continuity of care.
Obamacare Presents Complex Choices For People With Disabilities
Some categories of essential benefits under the health law, like maternity care and preventive care, are straightforward. But “habilitative services” — including treatments like physical and speech therapy — are much more subjective.
In States That Don’t Expand Medicaid, Some Of The Uninsured May Still Get Help
Some could get help buying private coverage by projecting their future incomes to exceed the federal poverty level.
President: GOP Shutting Down Government To Defund Obamacare Is ‘A Bad Idea’
Republicans have made it their “holy grail, their number one priority” to deny millions of Americans health insurance coverage through the 2010 health care law, President Obama said today.
Mapping A Strategy To Reach Uninsured In King County, Wash.
Maps that show where the highest levels of uninsured live will help them target these areas for education and outreach in order to boost insurance coverage as required by the federal Affordable Care Act.
The Health Care Battle Over Navigators
After lobbying from insurance agents, states move to regulate a key to Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces.
Red State Idaho Embraces Obamacare Insurance Exchange — Reluctantly
Gov. “Butch” Otter and employer groups fought to keep control of their health insurance marketplace — the only GOP-controlled state to run a state-based exchange –
Transforming Prenatal Care To Lower Infant Mortality
Einstein Medical Center hopes a program funded by the health law and geared to women with high-risk pregnancies will reduce North Philadelphia’s high infant mortality rate.
St. Louis’ Busiest Safety Net Hospital Braces For Health Law Challenges
Christian Hospital’s struggle to serve the disadvantaged is not likely to get easier under the Affordable Care Act.
Many Consumers With High-Deductible Plans Are Concerned About Health Law Changes
Many policy holders are not aware that the plans, which generally have low premiums and can have high out-of-pocket costs, don’t meet the standards set in the health overhaul.
State Premium Watch: Pricing In The New Insurance Marketplaces
KHN is gathering the data from states that have approved and published premiums for the online marketplaces that will open Oct. 1 under the federal health law.
Armed With Bigger Fines, Medicare To Punish 2,225 Hospitals For Excess Readmissions
Penalties will total $227 million, but many hospitals will see their fines go down in October in the second year of the program.
Sources and Methodology: A Guide To Medicare’s Readmissions Data And KHN’s Analysis
Kaiser Health News’ data on hospital readmissions penalties comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Readmissions Penalties By State: Year Two
This chart lists state averages of readmission rates and the number of hospitals in each state that will be penalized.
