Latest KFF Health News Stories
HHS, States Move To Help Insurers Defray Costs Of Sickest Patients
In a letter to all governors, HHS Secretary Tom Price invited them to consider seeking federal help to set up reinsurance funds that would help cover losses that insurers have because of high numbers of sick patients.
Conservatives’ Goal To Relax Mandatory Health Benefits Unlikely To Tame Premiums
The federal health law requires most insurance plans to offer 10 specific categories of essential benefits. Conservatives would like to get rid of that rule in the hopes of bringing down premium costs.
The Next Obamacare Battleground: Subsidies For Out-Of-Pocket Costs
Exchange enrollees and insurers fret over a lawsuit that could end federal help with copays and deductibles.
La próxima batalla del Obamacare: subsidios para gastos de bolsillo
Los subsidios que ayudan a las personas con sus copagos y deducibles, distintos a los créditos impositivos para pagar las primas, están en medio de una batalla legal luego de una demanda republicana.
GOP Fix To Insurance Markets Could Spike Premiums For Older Customers
As Republicans consider how to bring down costs for younger people, lawmakers may relax or eliminate the restrictions on how much more insurers can charge older consumers.
Obamacare Enrollment Is Beating Last Year’s Early Pace
A record 6.4 million Americans signed up for plans through healthcare.gov in the first weeks of open enrollment – 400,000 more than last year at this time, federal officials say.
Some Panic, Others Shrug At Prospect Of Losing Obamacare
Consumers who feel they pay too much for skimpy coverage may welcome Donald Trump’s changes to the health law, but those who are sick are deeply worried.
Insurers, Hospitals Clash Over Help Paying Obamacare Premiums
Insurers charge that hospitals and other health providers are using third-party groups to help some low-income patients buy marketplace plans, which bring higher reimbursement rates.
Reducir el shock del Obamacare
Con los grandes aumentos en las primas que se avecinan, la flexibilidad al elegir un plan de salud puede ser la clave para proteger su bolsillo.
Video: How Obamacare Premium Hikes Affect Politics And Your Wallet
PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff talks to Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News and Reid Wilson of The Hill.
Consumer Group Questions Role of Drug Costs In California Premium Hikes
Consumers Union says Anthem Inc. and Blue Shield of California may be exploiting furor over prescription drug prices. State regulators are looking into the issue.
Big Companies Expect Moderate Increases In 2017 Employee Health Care Costs
Two surveys suggest these companies continue to try new ways to control the expense of employees’ coverage.
What Do Covered California’s Big Rate Hikes Mean For You?
We answer some key questions to help consumers make sense of the news about large premium increases in the state’s Obamacare exchange.
Covered California Health Plan Rates To Jump 13.2 Percent In 2017
A double-digit increase, which follows two years of moderate rate hikes, is likely to resonate across the country in debate over Obamacare.
United’s Departure From Marketplaces Could Impact Consumers’ Costs, Access
Florida and Oklahoma counties are among the hardest hit by UnitedHealthcare’s pullout from health law exchanges.
Long-Term Care Insurance: Less Bang, More Buck
Seniors slammed with big premium increases face tough choices.
Three Changes Consumers Can Expect In Next Year’s Obamacare Coverage
The Department of Health and Human Services issues new rules designed to simplify health coverage consumers buy through Healthcare.gov.
Head Of California Exchange Scolds UnitedHealth For Blaming Woes On Obamacare
Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, says the giant insurer’s complaints about ACA exchanges are “total spin and unanchored in reality.”
Buying Supplemental Insurance Can Be Hard For Younger Medicare Beneficiaries
Congress left it to states to determine whether private Medigap plans are sold to the more than 9 million disabled people younger than 65 who qualify for Medicare. The result: rules vary across the country.
Short-Term Health Plans: The Pros And Cons
Columnist Emily Bazar answers a consumer’s question: “You could get one of these plans, pay the uninsured tax penalty and still pay less.”
