The Clubfoot Correction: How Parents Pushed For A Better Treatment
Just a decade ago, 90 percent of babies born with clubfoot had extensive surgeries to correct it. Those surgeries often led to a lifetime of chronic pain. That has been replaced by a cheaper, noninvasive casting technique, championed by parents.
In Western N.C., Getting Health Coverage Means Getting Creative
A navigator helps people, like John Martin (above), who fall into coverage gap in Appalachia figure out ways to qualify for and receive Obamacare insurance subsidies.
How Much Does A New Hip Cost? Even The Surgeon Doesn’t Know
What will a gallon of milk set you back? How about a new car? You probably have a rough idea. But what about a medical device — the kind that gets implanted during a knee or hip replacement? Chances are you have no clue. And you are not alone: The surgeons who implant those devices probably […]
N.C. Navigator: We Didn’t Break The Rules
Navigators aren’t allowed to mail paper applications for health insurance to the federal government on behalf of consumers. Kaiser Health News learned that the hard way after Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., cited an October KHN blog post in a report about risks of fraud among navigators. We incorrectly reported that navigators with North Carolina nonprofit […]
How Palliative Care Helps: One Iowa Family’s Journey
‘This is their life. They’re the boss,’ says Dr. Tim Ihrig of the palliative care department at UnityPoint hospital in Fort Dodge, Iowa. ‘It’s an honor to be on this journey.’
Promises To Fix Mental Health System Still Unfulfilled
Even for those with the will and drive to pursue treatment, the process remains difficult, frightening and full of holes. On the federal level, little has come from the task forces and promises that followed the Newtown shootings.
In Iowa, Accountable Care Begins To Make A Difference
The Medicare program created by the Affordable Care Act focuses on smarter, targeted care to save lives and money.
3 State Exchange Leaders Try To Get Good News Out
Democrats in states running their own exchanges are seeking to put a more positive spin on the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, despite the mostly negative news coming out of Washington. “What we’re seeing is incredible momentum,” Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, said during a conference call for reporters held by Families […]
Prevention For Profit: Questions Raised About Some Health Screenings
Tests offered by for-profit companies are mostly non-invasive and fairly affordable. But some of them are not recommended by national organizations because they can lead to further testing that does more harm than good.
Navigators Tread Water As Website Problems Continue
Updated: Dec. 19, 2013 Navigators in states relying on the flawed federal exchange healthcare.gov are focusing on bolstering excitement and education about the law as they wait for fixes to the website. “It’s slowed us down,” says Patsy Dowling, executive director of Mountain Projects Inc., a 130-employee nonprofit in Western North Carolina, which won a […]
Geography Is Destiny When It Comes To Enrolling In Health Insurance Exchanges
The new health insurance exchanges are now in their second week, and almost across the board, it has been a rocky start. But just how rocky depends on what state you live in and how many navigators have been hired to help people sign up.
On Day 2, Federal Insurance Marketplace Offers Mixed Bag Of Problems, But Also Successes
The federal health insurance marketplace continued to frustrate consumers Wednesday with delays and software failures, but some people also reported progress.
Obamacare Day One: A Tale Of Two States
There was a party atmosphere at Affordable Care Act events in California, where the law has been embraced, and in Virginia, where it has been resisted. But consumers will have very different experiences in the two states.
Online Obamacare Enrollment In Spanish Delayed
The Spanish-language version of healthcare.gov will not be equipped to handle online enrollments on Oct 1., according to an Obama administration official. Instead, Spanish speakers will have to wait until Oct. 21 to sign up online. The official said the new signup date should not be considered a delay, but rather the administration is choosing […]
3 States, 3 Different Obamacare Outreach Plans
How many ads will it take to get the uninsured signed up for the new coverage options launching Oct. 1? States do not know yet. But those running their own marketplaces are rolling out some creative new outreach techniques to get there as quickly as possible. In Oregon, where recent television ads resemble a Portlandia […]
Navigators Say GOP Lawmakers’ Information Requests Are ‘Shocking’
Organizations that received federal grants to hire and train workers to sign up consumers for health insurance say lawmakers are asking for too much too soon.
ACOs’ Coordinated Care Savings May Be Contagious
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) may actually be the unicorns we’ve been waiting for, spreading their cost-saving magic throughout the health system. An early cost-sharing program in Massachusetts designed to cut costs for private Blue Cross Blue Shield patients also lowered costs for Medicare patients who were seen by the same providers, according to a study published […]
Kids With Costly Medical Issues Get Help, But Not Enough
More than 2 million kids in the US are born with multiple chronic illnesses that often require frequent trips to the hospital, and the number of medically complex kids is growing about 6 percent a year. Medicaid usually steps in to help pay, but that can create logistical problems for families.
HHS Watchdog Says Rural Hospital Program Needs A Trim
The federal government’s program to help rural hospitals has grown bloated and unwieldy, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The program costs the government and Medicare beneficiaries up to a billion dollars a year more than the original parameters of the […]
Univision Obamacare Deal Could Put WellPoint, Blues Ahead Of Competitors
The partnerships with the Spanish-language media giant are among the most concrete ways to date that insurers have invested in the marketing of Obamacare, but they also could skirt a key principle of the Affordable Care Act: that it should foster insurer competition and consumer choice.
