Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Feds Demand Medicaid Backlog Fixes By Six States
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Tired of waiting for states to reduce their backlogs of Medicaid applications, the Obama administration has given six states until Monday to submit plans to resolve issues that have prevented more than 1 million low-income or disabled people from getting health coverage. The targeted states are Alaska, California, […]
Report: Adults With Serious Mental Illnesses Face 80% Unemployment
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Employment rates for people with a serious mental illness are dismally low and getting worse, according to a report from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Just 17.8 percent of people receiving public mental health services were employed in 2012 – down from 23 percent in […]
Advocates Say California Is Rejecting ‘Free Money’ To Renew Poor People’s Insurance
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) Consumer advocates and some legislators were surprised and frustrated when California health officials recently refused a $6 million donation to help people re-up their Medi-Cal health coverage. Now two senators have proposed an unusual solution: a bill to force the state to accept the offer from […]
Pelvic Exams No Longer Recommended For Well-Woman Visits
The American College of Physicians announced a major change to their screening guidelines Monday evening: Healthy women should no longer receive pelvic exams during their annual well-woman visits. The recommendation does not apply to women who are pregnant or who have symptoms of pelvic disease. “It’s an intrusive test, it’s a test women don’t like, […]
‘A Uniquely New Hampshire Approach’ To Medicaid Expansion
New Hampshire became the 26th state today to embrace the federal health law’s expanded Medicaid program, with as many as 50,000 low-income residents expected to begin signing up. Coverage for those who enroll this month will take effect Aug. 15. Initially, most New Hampshire enrollees will join one of two Medicaid managed care plans in the […]
Colorado’s 2015 Premiums: Up, Down And Holding The Line
Health insurance companies in Colorado are starting to talk about their proposed premiums for 2015. State regulators on Monday released the draft prices, which the state now has 60 days to approve or deny. Carriers generally aren’t proposing big changes in premiums for 2015, nothing that’s dramatically out of line with trends of the last […]
Premiums For Many In The Individual Market May Change Next Year
Health insurance premiums for people with subsidies could increase substantially in some markets – but consumers who shop around may not end up paying more, a new report out Thursday says. Shopping around may not be as likely, however, under proposed rules also released Thursday by the Obama administration which will automatically re-enroll the vast majority […]
Penalizing Hospitals For Being Unsafe: Why Adverse Events Are A Big Problem
A Kaiser Health News article published Sunday about upcoming hospital penalties included an analysis of Medicare data by Dr. Ashish K. Jha, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. This week, Jha also wrote up his own take on the data. Originally posted on his Harvard blog, Dr. Jha’s copyrighted assessment is republished below, […]
‘Right-To-Try’ Laws On Experimental Drugs Stir Debate
KHN’s Julie Rovner participated in a Google Hangout with PBS NewsHour on state “right-to-try” laws, first approved in Colorado, which allow terminally ill patients to try potentially life-saving, but unapproved drugs to treat their conditions. Watch the discussion below:
Employer Health Costs Forecast To Accelerate In 2015
Health costs will accelerate next year, but changes in how people buy care will help keep them from attaining the speed of several years ago, PricewaterhouseCoopers says in a new report. The prediction, based on interviews and modeling, splits the difference between hopes that costs will stay tame and fears that they’re off to the […]
Talking Medicare’s Hospital Fines For Too Many Patient Injuries
KHN’s Jordan Rau was on NPR and C-SPAN Monday to talk about coming Medicare penalties for about a quarter of the nation’s hospitals as detailed in his story More Than 750 Hospitals Face Medicare Crackdown On Patient Injuries. The penalties will ding hospitals up to 1 percent of their Medicare pay for having higher rates of […]
How Your State Rates In Terms Of Long-Term Care
This copyrighted story comes from ‘s Shots blog. All rights reserved. In just 12 years, the oldest members of the huge baby-boom generation will turn 80. Many will need some kind of long-term care. A new study from AARP says that care could vary dramatically in cost and quality depending on where they live. The […]
Consumer Group Urges Hospitals To Stop Promoting Questionable Screenings
Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Thursday called on 20 hospital systems to stop partnering with companies that offer low-cost screenings for heart disease and stroke risk, saying the promotions are “unethical” and the exams are more likely to do harm than good. In recent years, more hospitals have paired with firms offering such testing packages, partly to […]
Future Uncertain For VA Rural Health Pilot Program
TOPEKA — Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pilot program offering timely, quality health care to rural veterans is being allowed to expire in a few months, even as major legislation moves through both houses of Congress that would have similar goals as the pilot program. The pilot program is called […]
HHS Releases New Details About 2014 Marketplace Premiums, Subsidies
Federal officials on Wednesday released new data about who enrolled in the federal health marketplace plans for 2014, how much the law’s subsidies helped offset the cost and how many plans people from could choose from, among other details. “What we’re finding is that the marketplace is working. Consumers have more choices and they’re paying […]
Enroll America Pushes Ahead To Second Enrollment Period
Enroll America convened a national conference this week in Washington to review the strategies that proved successful during the inaugural Affordable Care Act open enrollment period and to gear up for the next one, which will start Nov. 15. Organizers also want to ensure that the navigators and organizations working toward enrollment maintain their energy […]
High Court Rules Anti-Abortion Group Can Sue Over Election ‘Truth-Telling’ Law
A group challenging an Ohio election law that makes it a crime to make “false statements” about a candidate’s record during a campaign has standing to challenge the constitutionality of that law, according to today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, did NOT strike down Ohio’s false statement law. But […]
Many Patients Struggling to Understand New Health Insurance
Co-insurance, co-pays, deductibles? It’s not easy to know what’s what.
Doctors Turning To Super Software For Advice
Does a patient need a transfusion or another medication? Artificial intelligence systems can help doctors decide.
Obamacare Credited For Big Drop In Minnesota’s Uninsured Rate
This story is part of a partnership that includes MPR, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) The website malfunctioned. The exchange chief was fired. And many people had to sign up the old fashioned way: pen, paper, with a person. So, Minnesota’s launch of the Affordable Care Act was […]
