Latest KFF Health News Stories
Florida Officials: Health Insurance Prices Will Spike; Feds Disagree
State insurance officials unveiled proposed prices for health plans to be sold on the exchanges beginning Oct. 1. But those plans, and the prices, have yet to be approved by the federal government and could change.
Benefits On Health Marketplace Plans Will Be Similar But Costs Will Vary
In response to readers’ questions, columnist explains that all policies offered on the online exchanges must cover 10 “essential health benefits,” but the plans will be classified according to the proportion of costs that consumers will be responsible for paying.
Enrolling Healthy, Young Adults Crucial To Success Of New Health-Care Law
For the growing campaign to enroll the uninsured in health insurance as part of the monumental health-care overhaul, signing up healthy young adults – the “young invincibles” – is crucial to success.
Obamacare Canvassers Seek Out Florida’s Uninsured
Enroll America volunteers use census data and telephone surveys to identify people without coverage but finding them can still be challenging.
Maryland Regulators Slash Rates For Obamacare Insurance Policies
Consumer advocates praise rates that are more affordable, but others question whether they can be sustained.
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Florida Providers Jump On ACO Bandwagon
The health care model encouraged by the Affordable Care Act rewards physicians for coordinating patient care and controlling costs.
Deciphering The Health Law’s Subsidies For Premiums
Tax attorney Cathy Livingston helps explain how consumers with lower incomes will be able to get financial assistance when buying a health insurance policy on the new online marketplaces.
Patient Advocates Seek A Gentle Transition From High Risk Pools To New Exchange Plans
Many states had special programs to provide insurance to people with medical problems. Some of those programs will disappear after January when the federal health law offers guarantees of coverage.
Analysis: N.Y. Insurance Market Is ‘Poster Child’ For Individual Mandate
Insurers offer less expensive premiums, betting the mandate will attract young and healthy consumers into a market long dominated by the sick.
New York is one of five states that required insurers to sell to everyone prior to passage of the health law but did not require consumers to buy coverage, leading to some of the nation’s highest premiums.
Texas Groups Promote Health Insurance Exchange With No Help From State
State officials have no plans to help educate consumers about new insurance options. Other groups are stepping in, but some worry it won’t be enough.
Obama On Health Law: ‘Working The Way It’s Supposed To’
Video: In remarks at the White House Thursday the president touted lower-than-projected premiums that have been announced for health insurance marketplaces in several states.
Obama Says Health Law Is Saving Consumers Money
President uses speech to push back against critics, highlight law’s benefits to middle-class and working Americans.
New Missouri law Imposes Hurdle For Insurance Exchange
The law requires insurance counselors
Large Insurers Opt Out Of Missouri’s Health Exchange
UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and Assurant Health say they won’t participate, at least initially.
Head Of Rx Drug Makers Group Says Obama Budget Plans Cause Concern
John Castellani, the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, notes support for health overhaul but says efforts to change Medicare Part D program and companies’ control of biologic drugs “would do serious harm to our industry.”
A Handful Of State Marketplaces Opt Not To Charge Smokers More For Premiums
The health law allows insurers to charge smokers 50 percent higher premiums than nonsmokers but some states have decided not to allow that distinction in plans sold on the new online exchanges.
Kentucky’s Rush Into Medicaid Managed Care: A Cautionary Tale For Other States
Doctors, hospitals, patients and their advocates complained about disruptions in care and payments after Kentucky moved more than half a million people on Medicaid into private plans.
Connecting Minnesota’s Latino Community To Health Care
One-in-eight Minnesota Latinos is uninsured. As the health law rolls out, community clinics in the state will be connecting Latinos to their new insurance options.
