Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Medicare Fines 2,610 Hospitals In Third Round Of Readmission Penalties
Although fewer patients are now returning to the hospital within a month, the fines reached a record level this year.
Readmissions Penalties By State: Year 3
Medicare evaluated the readmission rates of the nation’s hospitals in determining the third year of penalties in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. This table lists the average impact on hospitals in each state.
Canceled Health Plans: Round Two
Those who held onto plans that didn’t comply with the health law may have to choose new ones for 2015, and they could cost more.
Many Rural Hospitals Are Excluded From Government’s Push For Better Quality
A quarter of the nation’s hospitals are exempt from penalties, quality bonuses and other payment reforms.
New Insurance Coverage Gives Tech Entrepreneur A New Flexibility
Once deemed ‘uninsurable,’ a businesswoman suffering from a chronic condition now has coverage — and it’s not tied to a job or a boyfriend.
Debate Grows Over Employer Plans With No Hospital Benefits
Some insurance pros say the administration intended such coverage to meet Obamacare’s “minimum value” standard. Others disagree, and the government stays silent.
Personal Attention Seen As Antidote To Rising Health Costs
Some of a hospital’s income now depends on keeping patients healthy. Kevin Wiehrs seeks to save hospitals money by keeping former patients out of the hospital.
Administration Says Hospitals Will Save $5.7B From Unpaid Bills Due To Health Law
About three-quarters of the savings will go to hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid.
Insurance Brokers Key To Kentucky’s Obamacare Success
More than 40 percent of the people who signed up for insurance on Kynect, Kentucky’s exchange, used an insurance broker.
Number Of Marketplace Insurers To Rise 25 Percent, HHS Says
More companies will likely mean more competition and lower prices for consumers, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Tuesday.
Caring for His Elderly Dad With No Insurance Of His Own
In the remote reaches of California, a doctor’s son says coverage has nearly always eluded him, and his initial efforts to enroll in the state’s new insurance exchange were unsuccessful.
A Single Insurer Holds Obamacare Fate In Two States
Where did the insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act struggle the most? The answer lies in commerce, not politics.
Rise Of Catholic Insurance Plans Raises Questions About Contraceptive Coverage
Insurers try to avoid conflict with church positions on contraception by using third parties to provide coverage.
In Onscreen Dramas, Health Experts Inject A Dose Of Reality
Hollywood center taps medical authorities to answer producers’ questions on everything from autism to tuberculosis.
FAQ: Children’s Health Insurance Program’s Future Is Unclear Under The Health Law
The federal-state program, called CHIP, is funded only for another year under the law, and advocates worry that without it, some kids may suffer.
Health Law Tempers New State Coverage Mandates
Provisions in the Affordable Care Act seek to curb individual states from setting new mandates requiring insurers to cover specific care but many local legislators are trying to work around that.
Flaw In Federal Software Lets Employers Offer Plans Without Hospital Benefits, Consultants Say
Problems with a government calculator that companies use to prove that their insurance meets health law standards could allow substandard policies, consumer advocates say.
Health Law Shows Little Effect In Lowering Children’s Uninsured Rate, Study Finds
Yet many uninsured kids would be eligible for coverage under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Census Bureau: Health Costs Inch Up As Obamacare Kicks In
Health and social spending as measured by the Census Bureau grew by only 3.7 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014.
HHS Official: Healthcare.gov Updates Will Be ‘Improvement But Not Perfection’
Testifying before a House subcommittee, a key Obama administration official lays out the updates that HHS is making to the online marketplaces before enrollment begins in November. Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss.
