Latest KFF Health News Stories
Americans Remain Divided, Confused About Health Law As Anniversary Nears
Support levels have changed little since the landmark bill was signed last March as the partisan divide on the issue continues, new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds.
Health Reform’s Next Act: A Focus On Achieving Health Equity
The president has offered states some flexibility in their efforts to implement parts of the new health law. He should also insist that they show progress toward eliminating the health inequities that exist between rich and poor Americans, and whites relative to most non-whites.
Ryan Says Congress Will Dodge Entitlement Cuts
Congress is unlikely to tackle major changes in Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security before the 2012 election because of few signs that Republicans and Democrats are willing to assume the political risk, according to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Healthy Indiana: Conservatives’ Reform Poster Child Or Another Costly Program?
The Healthy Indiana Plan is the Hoosier state’s alternative to traditional Medicaid. It’s boosters also consider it a viable alternative to the dreaded Affordable Care Act. But do they really have a case?
Video: Sebelius Questioned By Senate Finance Committee
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing titled “Health Reform: Lessons Learned During the First Year,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius praised the health law and faced questions from critical Republican members on the panel. Watch excerpts from the hearing.
Many Adults Struggle To Pay Medical Bills, Report Finds
The recession and rising health costs create financial hardships or cause consumers to forgo care, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund.
The ‘Missing Link’ In ACOs: Patients
Is it realistic to leverage the success of accountable care organizations on physician incentives alone? In other words, what about patients? Might they be that mysterious point that determines the effectiveness of ACO evolution?
Dems To GOP: Show Us Your Health Insurance
A bill introduced by House Democrats would require members of Congress to declare whether they are taking health benefits subsidized by taxpayers. The bill has next to no chance of passing because Republicans control the House. But its introduction puts some heat on the GOP.
Health Law Funding: GOP Sticking Point In Spending Bill
Health On The Hill: Some House and Senate Republicans have said they will vote against a three-week funding measure for the federal government because it does not take steps to stop funding for implementation of the health care law. Watch the video.
Health On The Hill: Health Law Funding A GOP Sticking Point In Spending Bill
The Washington Post’s Amy Goldstein joins KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talk about developments on the Hill. This week: Some House and Senate Republicans have said they will vote against a three-week funding measure for the federal government because it does not take steps to stop funding for implementation of the health care law. Separately, health care is surfacing as a key issue among potential GOP presidential candidates.
GOP Wants States To Lead On Health Coverage
If Republicans are successful in repealing last year’s health law, they want to replace it with legislation that would give states far more discretion about how to cover people, according to a top Senate Republican.
Haley Barbour Draws Fire For Medicaid Changes In Mississippi
Mississippi Gov. Barbour’s ways to control the rising costs of Medicaid are sometimes controversial, but he maintains that states need more freedom to run the program.
Can My Insurer Deny My 22-Year-Old Health Insurance Coverage?
A reader wonders if she can put her 22-year-old self-employed daughter, who currently has insurance on her own, back on the family policy.
The Donald Berwick Predicament
We can’t evaluate the backstage politics, but one thing is certain. Both Democrats and Republicans should be dismayed at the sight of a partisan campaign driving yet another distinguished figure out of American government.
Will Access To Health Insurance For My Sick Wife Be Better After 2014?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if access to good health insurance will be better for his sick wife after 2014.
Will My Son With Pre-existing Conditions Be Able To Buy Health Insurance?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader on if her son with a pre-existing condition will be able to buy health insurance under the new law.
Wyden-Brown And The Health Law: A Match Made In Heaven Or Limbo?
President Barack Obama’s surprise signal last week to governors that he was willing to give states some extra flexibility in implementing the law is particularly noteworthy because it offers a useful window into the health law’ s evolving politics and the future bargaining that will likely take place.
Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey talks with KFF’s Jackie Judd about last week’s order by a federal judge in which he stayed his earlier decision striking down the health law, but also ordered the Obama administration to file an appeal. Also, the Senate considers how it will fund the federal government.
Health On The Hill: Judge Orders Fed Appeal In Health Law Challenge
A Florida District Court judge issued a stay of his earlier ruling on the health law that found the law unconstitutional, but he ordered the Obama Administration to file an appeal within seven business days. Meanwhile, two different funding approaches to keep the government operating beyond March 18
So This Is Freedom? They Must Be Joking.
Despite the rhetoric about compromise, what President Barack Obama actually did when he announced that states would have some flexibility in implementing the health law was give states the option of replacing his law with a single-payer health system three years earlier than it otherwise could have happened.
