Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Law’s Opponents Dominating Airwaves
President Obama signed the health law in March and told voters to read up on it. But opponents of the law have done most of the educating on what it means, sometimes in ads with false claims.
Campaign Claims: Health Law Myths And Facts
The debate that preceded passage of the health-care overhaul resumed as a heated issue in the midterm elections. Politicians and advocacy groups seeking repeal of the law are making dramatic claims about the its cost and effects. How valid are they? We evaluate some of the most common criticisms.
Health On The Hill – October 18, 2010
Some Democrats are talking about health care in their elections in a new way: send us to Washington to fix parts of the health care bill that you don’t like. Meanwhile, oral arguments in a Virginia court case challenging the law’s requirement that individuals purchase health care insurance are proceeding in court.
What’s the Worst That Could Happen With The New Health Law?
The Heritage Foundation’s analysis of the impact of health reform shows that different assumptions could put a tremendous amount of pressure on an already soaring national debt.
Hospitals, Inc., A Kaiser Health News Series
Hospitals play an enormous role in the health care system; they’re a crucial part of the public health safety net and an important community resource. But they are expensive. Hospital costs make up the largest portion of the health spending in this country.
Should Health Law Be Repealed? Not A Simple Question
Would the public like to see the new health overhaul law repealed? A lot of pollsters have been asking that question lately. And they’ve been getting a lot of different answers.
In Campaign Ads, Democrats Mostly Silent About Health Law
When Democrats passed their health overhaul bill back in March, they hailed it as the biggest domestic achievement since Medicare. But seven months later, most of the noise about the new law on the campaign trail is coming from opponents
The Health Reform (Almost) Everyone Loves
Come with me to the land of happy health reform. It is a place where Republicans and Democrats find common ground, a place where physicians, hospitals and health insurers sit together as partners, a place where criticism is respectful, not rancorous. It is the world of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
HHS Issues New Guidance On Kids’ Insurance Policies
Health insurers can’t have different rules for when individual policies for children with medical problems than for healthy kids are sold, the Department of Health and Human Services said today.
Women’s Health Groups Call For Free Rx Birth Control
Planned Parenthood and other groups are launching a campaign to include prescription contraception as part of the preventive services required in the new health law.
Studies Highlight High Medicare Costs For People In Nursing Homes
People who live in long-term care are much more likely to be sent to the hospital, sometimes unnecessarily, which can harm patients and drive up Medicare costs.
Open Insurance Season May Bring Sticker Shock
Workers are likely to see increases in premiums, deductibles and co-payments, as well as changes in dependent coverage and wellness options.
Health On The Hill – October 11, 2010
The Department of Health and Human Services has granted approximately 30 waivers to employers, insurers and unions that will allow them to offer limited benefit, or “mini-med,” health insurance plans.
Health Care Interests Push To Make ACOs Pay Off For Them
From medical device makers to pharmacists to labor unions, a host of organizations want to ensure that accountable care organizations expand their business and influence.
Are ‘Mini-Med’ Plan Waivers A Good Idea?
Mark Rukavina of The Access Project and Neil Trautwein of the National Retail Federation discuss the Obama administration’s relaxation of the health law’s requirements for insurance plans for some employers.
Health Care: Run On It or Against It?
Republicans think they have a winning issue in health care reform, calling for its repeal and slamming the new law as big government gone haywire-even before most of its provisions have taken effect. A new poll suggests it’s not so clear-cut, and some Democrats seem to agree.
Health Reform Facing Early Legal Tests
A number of interest groups, state officials and ordinary citizens are seeking to have the health care law struck down in federal court, and action is heating up this week.
Reminding Ourselves What Has Gone Right With The Health Law
It will take years to make the law’s most important changes. But by the time they are in place, if all goes well, most Americans truly will be better off. The early stages are encouraging.
Feds Reassure Hospitals, Doctors On Cooperation Through ACOs
The agencies that oversee doctors and hospitals promised they will give unified guidance on how medical providers can form “accountable care organizations” without violating antitrust regulations. ACOs are a key part of the new health law.
Health Care Reform: Prove it Works and CMS Will Pay
When it comes to Medicare, where it is everybody’s money and overpriced technologies are a significant factor undermining the senior citizen health care program’s long-term financial viability, paying for products that don’t deliver better is out.
