Latest Morning Briefing Stories
‘Milestone’ Rules Would Limit Profits, Score Quality For Private Medicaid Plans
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposal, which includes provisions related to network adequacy and quality standards, would be the biggest regulatory change to Medicaid managed care in more than a decade.
When Paying The Obamacare Penalty Is Cheaper Than Buying Insurance
For some, playing the high-risk gamble of paying the Obamacare penalty versus carrying health coverage they can’t afford pays off, for others who get sick, the wager leaves them with huge medical bills.
S.C. Man Will Get Sight-Saving Surgery As Liberal Donors Chip In
Most said they hope he gets the surgery and changes his political views.
Learning A New Health Insurance System The Hard Way
A Sacramento couple struggled to take advantage of subsidized health care coverage through Covered California in 2014 – facing one glitch after another. This year, they are more savvy about navigating the system.
Who Should Pay To Save The Sight Of An Uninsured South Carolina Man?
A self-employed handyman chose not to buy health insurance. Now, with his savings exhausted and health problems that may lead to blindness, The Charlotte Observer blogs about how his case poses economic, as well as moral challenges.
In Louisiana, Obamacare Subsidies Mean Financial Independence For Some
Meet three people from the Bayou State who would likely lose their insurance and their newfound sense of financial stability if the Supreme Court rules subsidies illegal in the King v. Burwell case.
Missteps By Missouri Medicaid Become Ammunition For Expansion Foes
A stinging federal audit and complaints of long wait times give reluctant lawmakers a line of attack.
How Getting Married Affects Health Insurance Tax Credits
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers readers’ questions about cost and coverage.
What’s At Stake In The Supreme Court Obamacare Case
Despite political opposition to the Affordable Care Act, more than 186,000 people in Louisiana signed up for health insurance through healthcare.gov. The vast majority of those received subsidies, which could be lost in the King v. Burwell case before the Supreme Court.
Audit: Missouri Medicaid Failed To Bill Drugmakers For More Than $50M In Rebates
HHS auditors recommend Missouri repay more than $34 million to the federal government, but state officials dispute the findings.
Coalition Hopes To Amp Up Push For Health Care Transparency
A new coalition of insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and provider and consumer advocacy groups launched an initiative to make more information available to consumers about the actual costs of health services.
Med Students Chip In To Help The Uninsured
Almost 1 million New York City residents are still uninsured. Rather than go to emergency rooms or city hospitals, some of them get free care from medical school students.
Study Finds Lackluster Sign-Ups On State-Run Health Insurance Exchanges
Enrollment in private plans fell 2 percent in Washington state, but officials say the study doesn’t take account of the fast-growing Medicaid numbers.
Georgia Insurers, Doctors Partner To Improve Patient Care, Cut Costs
Primary care providers are teaming up with insurers, hospitals and others to improve patients’ health by coordinating their care and, the theory goes, curbing out-of-control health care costs.
Shifts In Earnings For Consumers Near Medicaid Line Can Threaten Coverage
Marketplaces face challenges ensuring that low-income customers continue to get coverage if their incomes change to put them above or below the Medicaid eligibility line.
High-Deductible Health Plans Can Ruin Finances
While coverage that requires enrollees to have ‘skin in the game’ is supposed to spur smarter consumer choices, the costs can be staggering for some.
Cancer Survivor Worries About Supreme Court Ruling On Obamacare Subsidies
A Philadelphia-area caterer who had been uninsured for five years before the ACA frets about her future if the Supreme Court strikes down federal exchange subsidies.
KHN Video: Tax Deadline Meets The Health Law
As April 15 approaches, most of the consumers who didn’t get insurance coverage face penalties while others who used federal subsidies to buy their plans must reconcile their actual earnings with the estimates that they made last year.
Most N.Y. Marketplace Plans Lack Any Coverage For Out-Of-Network Care
Except for a few insurers in Albany and the western part of the state, all the policies sold in the individual market are HMOs that will not pay anything toward routine expenses from doctors or hospitals not in their networks.
HHS: Health Law Has Helped Insure 16.4 Million
The percentage of people without health insurance has dropped about a third since 2012, to 13.2 percent, according to federal officials.
