Latest KFF Health News Stories
IRS Ruling On Same-Sex Couples Has Implications For Health Law
Thursday’s announcement that the federal government will give the same tax treatment to legally married same-sex couples as they do to heterosexual couples may have ripple effects for the 2010 health care law. The decision from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service means that the income of legally married same-sex couples will be […]
Survey: Americans Have Low Health Insurance Literacy
Premium, deductible, copay, all basic health insurance terms many Americans don’t understand, according to a recent poll. More than half could not correctly define at least one of these common financial terms related to health insurance, according to poll results released by the American Institute of CPAs. Ernie Almonte, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA […]
HHS Will Allow ‘Unbanked’ People To Use Prepaid Debit Cards On Exchanges
At the urging of advocates for low-income consumers, the Obama administration said Wednesday that it is moving ahead with a rule requiring health plans accommodate households that do not have traditional bank accounts. One in four of the uninsured eligible for federal insurance subsidies does not have a bank account, according to a report released […]
AMA President Optimistic About A Fix For Medicare’s Doctor Payment Formula
Debated and despised, the Medicare physician payment formula may finally be on the way out — at least that’s what AMA President Ardis Hoven believes. Known as the “sustainable growth rate” or SGR, the formula routinely threatens double-digit payment reduction to doctors until Congress steps in at the last minute to stop the cuts. Currently a […]
ACOs’ Coordinated Care Savings May Be Contagious
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) may actually be the unicorns we’ve been waiting for, spreading their cost-saving magic throughout the health system. An early cost-sharing program in Massachusetts designed to cut costs for private Blue Cross Blue Shield patients also lowered costs for Medicare patients who were seen by the same providers, according to a study published […]
Americans Hear More About Health Law, But Not From Most-Trusted Sources
The public’s awareness of new marketplaces is growing, but potential customers are getting much of their information about the health law from sources they don’t trust very much, according to a poll released Wednesday. Starting Oct. 1, people lacking insurance can begin enrolling in plans through online marketplaces, also called exchanges, which will be run by the […]
Administration Releases New Rules To Implement Health Law’s Individual Mandate
As congressional Republicans push for a delay in the 2010 health law’s individual mandate, the Obama administration Tuesday announced final regulations implementing the requirement that most Americans have health insurance coverage by Jan. 1 or pay a fine. The document from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service is in addition to regulations the Department of […]
CDC Study: Schools Are Getting Healthier
Nowadays, the hub for developing healthy habits isn’t just the gym or home. For kids, at least, it’s increasingly their schools, according to a study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School districts across the country are demonstrating a range of improvements in terms of nutrition, exercise and tobacco policies. For instance, after […]
Many Breast-Feeding Moms Unaware Of Health Law Help
This story was produced in partnership with New moms crave information, whether it’s car-seat safety ratings, the pros and cons of pacifiers or how best to sooth a colicky infant. So it’s a little surprising that many moms aren’t up to speed on how the Affordable Care Act could benefit them. The law has specific […]
Colorado’s Insurance Commissioner Braces For Bumps In The Road
Colorado, which is preparing for the Oct. 1 launch of its new online insurance marketplace, expects bumps in the road as residents start enrolling in new health coverage options created by the Affordable Care Act. “We’re going to have 500,000 new customers,” said Marguerite Salazar, the state’s new insurance commissioner, during an Aug. 19 interview […]
Washington State Launches Ad Blitz Promoting Health Exchange
With five weeks left until Washington state launches its online health-insurance exchange, many residents may have heard little about the program designed to offer coverage to the uninsured. That’s begun to change. The state began rolling out the first phase of its ad campaign last week to let the public know about the exchange, a central part of the […]
How Will Obamacare Affect Employee Health Coverage?
KHN’s Jay Hancock was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Monday morning taking questions about how the health law will affect employee health coverage offered by employers. Hancock reported recently that UPS has told employees it won’t cover their spouses if they can get coverage from their own employer. Read more: UPS Won’t Insure Spouses Of Some […]
Brokers Associated With More, Cheaper Health Coverage, Study Says
Health insurance agents, feeling threatened by the Affordable Care Act, will welcome research from the University of Minnesota that supports their longstanding argument that agents and brokers make insurance shopping easier and cheaper. A new paper by economist Pinar Karaca-Mandic and colleagues finds that small employers were more likely to offer medical coverage in markets with many brokers […]
Idaho’s GOP Governor Extols Exchange ‘Run By Idahoans For Idahoans’
Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, a Republican, said he still hopes the federal health law gets repealed. But with some of the law’s biggest changes taking effect in less than six weeks, he sounded like a proud papa Tuesday in announcing the name of his state’s new online health insurance marketplace: Your Health Idaho. Idaho is the only state under […]
With A Nod To Billy Joel, N.Y. Brands Obamacare Marketplace
Some folks like to get away, Take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood. But I’m takin’ a Greyhound on the Hudson River line. I’m in a New York state of mind … er … make that “New York State of Health.” Playing off the title of Billy […]
HHS Offering Prizes For Videos Promoting Obamacare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lBw9YTx4Lo The “young invincibles” are what health policy wonks call healthy young adults (18-30) who don’t see being uninsured as a problem. But it is a problem, at least for the success of the Affordable Care Act. That’s why the Department of Health and Human Services is spending $30,000 on prizes for a national video […]
Answering Your Questions About The Latest Obamacare Delays
KHN’s Julie Appleby was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Monday morning taking questions about the latest Obamacare implementation delay — this one delaying a provision of the law that limits some consumers’ out-of-pocket expenses for one year. Read more: Consumer Groups Fear Patients Could Be Hit With Large Out-Of-Pocket Costs and Federal Rule Allows Higher Out-Of-Pocket Spending […]
Pa., N.J. Insurers Gearing Up For Obamacare Business
This story was produced in partnership with With new federal rules and mandates, you’d think that health insurers would be beating the loudest drum in the repeal-the-Affordable Care Act band. But they’re not, and there are a couple of reasons why. The first is pretty obvious. Millions of uninsured people will be flooding the online […]
Colorado Exchange Releases Health Insurance Rates
Colorado released its Obamacare insurance rates on Friday, joining 13 states and the District of Columbia in making rates public. The state earlier made the call to be a clearinghouse exchange, rather than an active purchaser, and so, it has approved all 242 health plans submitted for sale on its marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado. Thirteen carriers will […]
HHS Watchdog Says Rural Hospital Program Needs A Trim
The federal government’s program to help rural hospitals has grown bloated and unwieldy, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The program costs the government and Medicare beneficiaries up to a billion dollars a year more than the original parameters of the […]
