Peggy Girshman

A Day Of Stark Differences For States On Health Insurance Exchanges

KFF Health News Original

On the same day HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius granted conditional approval to Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon and Washington for their health insurance exchange plans, the Republican-dominated Florida Senate made its position on the insurance marketplaces known. Friday is the deadline for states to decide if they want to build and operate their own exchanges or have the federal […]

Not Your Typical Presidential Debate Forum For Obama, Romney

KFF Health News Original

There’s nothing unusual about the way The New England Journal of Medicine displays the “Perspective” section this week: In dueling columns, under an original article on a “novel androgen-receptor blocker” for prostate cancer. But the authors of two of the perspectives are far from typical: B. Obama and M. Romney. The introduction to both is basic: […]

Reinhardt On Medicaid, Medicare And The Default

KFF Health News Original

In our calls for our story on the effect of default on the health care industry, we spent some time talking with Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt. He doubts that health care would be affected, unless someone wanted to “make a dramatic statement.” He believes most doctors’ offices, labs and hospitals could survive a few weeks without […]

Get Yer Summer Health Care Fact-Checking Here

KFF Health News Original

The debt ceiling debate this month has sent claims and counter claims flying, keeping the nation’s fact checkers busy.  Here’s a sampling of their mid-summer efforts: FactChecker.org was very curious about a number of claims by the conservative group Crossroads GPS, which is running a $7 million ad campaign aimed a number of Democrats, including […]

‘Big Cleanout’ No Cure For Hoarding

KFF Health News Original

Studies presented this weekend at the American Society on Aging conference say hoarders are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and have social phobias rather than obsessive compulsive disorder.

Midnight Munchies Keep Elderly Safer In NY Nursing Home

KFF Health News Original

Like many nursing homes, the Parker Jewish Institute in New Hyde Park, N.Y., was having problems with some of its patients with dementia wandering at night. The staff worried about falls, but they didn’t want to hand out more psychotropic medicines. But one night in 2007, a nursing assistant accidentally stumbled on a solution.