Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Sets Standard Deductibles, Copays For Insurance Plans
California on Wednesday became the first state to standardize health insurance plans under the federal health law, which regulators say will make shopping for health insurance easier when new online marketplaces begin enrolling customers in the fall. The state has set specific rules governing how much insurers can charge consumers for such things as office visits, […]
The ‘Yawning’ Chart Med School Students Fear
Medical school students call this chart the “jaws of death.” The graph from the Association of American Medical Colleges displays a yawning gap between the increasing number of med school grads looking for residencies and the number of residency slots available to them. “This is the only time in the history of the U.S. that […]
Obama Calls For ‘Modest Reforms’ Of Medicare
In his State of the Union address, the president also says he is “open to additional reforms from both parties” to slow the growth of health care costs.
Health Figures Big In State Of The Union Guest List
Five of the 24 people invited to sit near First Lady Michelle Obama at Tuesday night’s State of the Union have strong health care connections. They included a governor, a business owner and a beneficiary of the health law provision that prevents health plans from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Typically, invited guests at […]
Medicaid Helps Hospitals Pay For Illegal Immigrants’ Care
California gets the lion’s share of funding for a program that critics say leads to ‘anchor babies.’
Need A Price For A Hip Replacement? Good Luck With That
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Let’s say your 62-year-old granny is feeling creaky. One of her hips has been giving her trouble, and her doctor tells her it’s time to get it replaced with an implant. There’s a catch. Grandma isn’t old enough for Medicare and she doesn’t have health insurance. She […]
Study: One-Third Of Individual Plans Exceed Law’s Out-Of-Pocket Cap
Consumers who buy their own health insurance will see the total amount they could pay out of pocket for medical care capped starting next year, but some will likely pay higher premiums as a result. That’s one conclusion that can be drawn from a new study showing more than one-third of health insurance plans currently offered to […]
Feds Blame Mississippi Governor For Exchange Denial
One, Mississippi has become No, Mississippi. The Obama administration on Friday offered an explanation for why it rejected Mississippi’s bid to establish a state-based online health insurance marketplace, called One, Mississippi. In a letter, the federal government’s top exchange official said they had no choice because Gov. Phil Bryant would not allow the exchange to work with […]
HHS Denies Mississippi’s Bid To Run Its Own Exchange
Updated at 10:15 a.m. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who has been the driving force behind creating a state based exchange, got his answer from the feds Thursday: Sure can’t. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rejected Mississippi’s plan Thursday afternoon, making Mississippi the only state to have its exchange blueprint nixed by […]
Grassley Calls For Senate Consideration Of Tavenner’s Nomination
President Barack Obama Thursday once again nominated Marilyn Tavenner to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and a key GOP senator said the chamber should consider the nomination. “The Senate should give Ms. Tavenner every opportunity to show she is a worthy choice to lead the agency responsible for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, […]
Despite Possible Ease In Regulations, Rural Hospitals Face Challenges
Rural health care administrators got some good news this week. The Obama administration Monday proposed to ease some Medicare regulations – a change that could save rural hospitals much-needed money by allowing for more flexible staffing requirements. But for about 450 health care professionals who attended this week’s National Rural Health Association Policy Institute in […]
HHS Delays Basic Health Plan Option Until 2015
The Obama administration has delayed by one year the rollout of a health program aimed at low to moderate-income people who won’t qualify for the expanded Medicaid program under the federal health law. Under the so-called Basic Health Program, some states had planned to offer government insurance to people who don’t qualify for Medicaid, but […]
Study: Premium Increases To Be Offset By Subsidies, Better Coverage
How the federal health law will affect premiums is among the most asked – and most controversial – questions in the final months before new rules kick in requiring most Americans to carry coverage. A white paper out Wednesday considers how the law will affect premiums for people who buy their own coverage because they […]
Aggressive Care Still The Norm For Dying Seniors
Although federal data show that fewer Medicare beneficiaries are dying in hospitals, new research suggests that doesn’t mean they’re getting less aggressive care in their final days. Researchers at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and others reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association Tuesday that even as deaths in […]
Long-Term Care Protection May Be Toothless
There aren’t many investments people make to protect themselves against something that may happen 20 or 30 years down the road. Yet that’s exactly what long-term care insurance purchasers do. But a provision in those policies that people rely on to help ensure their coverage will meet their needs decades hence may do nothing of […]
Health Care Spending In America, In Two Graphs
This story comes from our partner . Spending on health care has, of course, been rising in the U.S. for decades. Health care now accounts for 18 cents of every dollar Americans spend, up from 7 cents in 1970. But where, exactly, is all that money going? And, for that matter, where is the money coming […]
State Action Needed To Guarantee Health Law Protections, Says Report
Lawmakers in most states better get busy if they want authority to enforce key provisions of the federal health law that go into effect next year. That’s the takeaway message from a report by the Commonwealth Fund showing that only 11 states and the District of Columbia have passed rules needed to implement the law. […]
Tick, Tock: Administration Misses Some Health Law Deadlines
Programs to increase fees to Medicaid primary care doctors and to entice states to eliminate some Medicaid copays are delayed as feds focus on insurance markets.
If you could make one change to Medicare, what would it be? Ask three former directors of the program and you’ll get plenty of ideas. Bruce Vladeck, who was head of what was then known as the Health Care Financing Administration, or HCFA, for former President Bill Clinton, wants more market-based competition and less pricing […]
Some Families Will Be Ineligible For Insurance Subsidies Under Final Rule
Some families with costly job-based health coverage may be ineligible for federal subsidies to help them buy less expensive coverage through new online insurance markets, under final rules released Wednesday by the IRS. The two rules, published by the Treasury Department here and here, uphold earlier proposals outlining what is considered affordable, employer-sponsored coverage. Under the federal health law, low […]
