Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Modest Premium Hikes, Higher Consumer Costs Likely For Job-Based Plans
As many companies provide employees with their coverage details this fall, spousal surcharges and health savings accounts on the rise.
Poll: Californians Support Health Coverage For Undocumented Immigrants
This story is part of a partnership that includes KQED, NPR and Kaiser Health News. It can be republished for free. (details) A majority of the state’s voters support extending current health insurance programs to all low-income Californians, including undocumented immigrants, according to a new statewide poll released today. The poll was commissioned by The California Endowment, […]
Obamacare Enrollment: Second Year An Even Tougher Challenge
States and the federal government aim to renew coverage for 15.3 million already signed up on exchanges and Medicaid — and enroll about 10 million more who are currently uninsured.
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.
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.
CDC Survey Finds Drop In Uninsured
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) UPDATED AT 12:10 P.M. The federal government’s first survey of the nation’s insured rate since the health care law’s new marketplaces began found a decrease in the number of adults without coverage, particularly among young adults. The National Health Interview Survey of people during the first […]
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.
Can I Buy Coverage After Accident Injuries? Who Pays The Cadillac Tax?
Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers readers’ questions.
Rural Doctor Shortage Worsens As Newly Insured Washington Residents Seek Care
In one Olympic Peninsula community, a clinic turns away 250 callers a week.
Maine Rolls Back Health Coverage Even As Many States Expand It
Gov. LePage’s decision to shrink, rather than expand, Medicaid has put strains on health providers as well as the poor.
North Carolina’s $10B Medicaid Challenge: Pay For Other States Or Take Federal Money?
State taxpayers could spend more than $10 billion by 2022 to provide medical coverage for low-income residents of other states while getting nothing in return.
Missouri’s Medicaid Applicants Get Put On Hold
Call center wait times climb even as the application backlog mounts and the state reports the single largest monthly drop in Medicaid enrollment in June.
Enrolling People In Obamacare Who Have No ‘Concept Of Insurance’
An agency that ministers to immigrant and Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan, faces challenges enrolling some people in health coverage.
Low-Income Patients Face Hurdles To Care At Public Hospital In Miami
Jackson Health System offers free and reduced-cost treatment for those who qualify, but advocacy groups complain it fails to meet requirements for charity care.
Freestanding ERs Target Suburbs, Rural Panel Told
Freestanding emergency departments have been proposed in Georgia as a potential solution for struggling rural hospitals.
One-Third Of Georgia’s Medicaid Applicants Still In Limbo
The state has one of the largest numbers of children who are Medicaid-eligible but still uninsured.
Missouri Lags Behind In Insurance Pricing Transparency
Consumers in most other states have more information about, and control over, health insurance prices and plans.
Hospitals Reconsider Charity For Patients Who Decline Health Coverage
Some fear helping some people with their bills might keep them from getting government-subsidized insurance plans.
