Latest KFF Health News Stories
House Moves Closer To IPAB Repeal Vote
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about the latest movement in House Republican efforts to repeal a key part of the health reform law — the Independent Payment Advisory Board. One House committee passed a repeal of IPAB Tuesday while another held a hearing on it. The full House is expected to vote on a repeal of IPAB as early as the end of March.
In Victory And Defeat, Romney And Santorum Bash Health Law
GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum struck out at the Democrats’ health law in speeches Tuesday night after Romney won both the Arizona and Michigan GOP primaries.
House Republicans Pound Sebelius On Health Law
Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. She defended the health care law and the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request. The hearing had all the hallmarks of a partisan political event.
Insurers Open Stores To Peddle Health Plans
With more people buying insurance on their own, and even more slated to because of the health law, insurers are seeking a retail strategy.
Five Questions About The Health Law’s Mandate To Cover Birth Control
While controversy over one aspect of the Obama administration’s contraception rule
Minnesota Exchange Grant Arrives In Politically Divided State
The federal government has awarded Minnesota $26 million to help it create a health insurance exchange, but Republicans in the GOP-led state legislature there are engaged in a bitter fight with Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton on its planning and even its existence.
Testy Santorum, Romney Tussle Over Mass. Health Reform
In the last scheduled Republican debate, candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul attacked the Obama administration on its birth control stance. Santorum dovetailed the issue into an attack of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, which then-Gov. Romney endorsed. Here is a transcript of the health care portions of the debate:
Feds Jump-Start Health Insurance Co-Ops With Loans
Seven organizations will receive a total of $639 million in federal low-interest loans to launch new health insurance plans in eight states, the federal government announced Tuesday.
Insurance Coverage Might Steer Women To Costlier – But More Effective – Birth Control
Long-acting methods such as the IUD and the hormonal implant are nearly 100 percent effective and require no effort after insertion. But birth control pills are about 92 percent effective.
SCOTUS Preview Part 2: Analyzing The Likely High Court Arguments On The Health Law
In part two of analysis of the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the health law, Stuart Taylor talks with Jackie Judd about the arguments each side is likely to make defending or against the individual mandate and the Medicaid expansion.
Really, America, Most Mass. Residents Like Health Reform
Latest WBUR poll shows that 62 percent of residents support Massachusetts’ health reform law, despite the drubbing it’s taken during the Republican presidential primaries.
Alaska Takes Biggest Step Yet Toward Health Insurance Exchange
Alaska has opposed the federal health law so adamantly that it is the only state that chose not to even apply for a $1 million grant the federal government was passing out to states to plan a health insurance exchange. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be an online marketplace to buy insurance in Alaska.
Candidates Court Seniors On Medicare
The top contenders are casting themselves as protectors of the program, even as they embrace ways to cut spending growth that have proven radioactive in past elections.
Health Care In Massachusetts: ‘Abject Failure’ Or Work In Progress?
GOP Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s health care reform in Massachusetts is denigrated by his fellow GOP contenders and some others, but the law isn’t nearly as controversial in his home state, where it remains to be seen just how the law will transform the health care system there.
FAQ: The Obama Administration’s Compromise On Contraception Benefits
The Obama administration, stung by fierce opposition from Catholic leaders to a new rule requiring that insurance plans offer free contraception, announced revised regulations Friday. Kaiser Health News summarizes common questions and answers to explain the new policy.
Video: President Obama On New Contraception Rules
The president was joined by HHS Secretary Sebelius as he announced a revision of the rule requiring that insurance plans offer free contraception, so that religious-affiliated groups don’t have to take responsibility for the coverage.
Will We Get The Biggest Bang From Health Law’s Prevention Grants?
Backers of the health law’s provision of $15 billion for prevention efforts believe it has the potential to improve health and reduce costs. But some question the administration’s decision to sprinkle money for community programs among dozens of groups testing different approaches, rather than channeling it to proven programs. Ken Thorpe, who chairs the Department of Health Policy […]
Rules Requiring Contraceptive Coverage Have Been In Force For Years
Employers have pretty much been required to provide contraceptive coverage as part of their health plans since December 2000. That’s when the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that failure to provide such coverage violates the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. But controversy over a new rule requiring even religious employers to cover contraception remains.
Health On The Hill Transcript: Backlash Grows Over Contraception Rule In Health Law
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about an Obama administration rule that would require many religious-affiliated groups to cover birth control in their insurance plans. House Speaker John Boehner has suggested Congress could take legislative action to stop the rule
Minnesota Plans For Exchange, Even Without New Law
Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, said that authorization will be needed at some point from the state legislature for an exchange. But he also suggested that much work could be done ahead of legislative action.
