Jul 23 HHS pushes states to negotiate lower Obamacare rates By Julie Rovner, KFF Health News Some analysts who have looked at health insurers’ proposed premiums for next year predict major increases for policies sold on state and federal health exchanges. Others say it’s too soon to tell. One thing is clear: There’s a battle brewing… Continue reading
Jul 20 Is urgent care always a lower-cost alternative to the emergency room? By Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News Sallyann Johnson considers herself a pretty savvy health care consumer. When she fell and injured her hands and wrists, she didn’t head for an expensive emergency room, choosing an urgent care clinic near her Milwaukee home instead. Continue reading
Jul 19 Higher-than-expected Medicaid enrollment numbers prompt state budget worries By Daniel Costa-Roberts A dozen states that chose to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act have seen their enrollment numbers far outpace projections, raising budget concerns as the federal government gets set to reduce its funding for the expansions… Continue reading
Jul 13 Watch 8:36 Telemedicine puts a doctor virtually at your bedside By PBS News Hour Video conferencing technology can now connect patients and physicians almost instantaneously, offering convenience, efficiency and savings. But what happens to the doctor-patient relationship if you're never in the same room? Hari Sreenivasan reports. Continue watching
Jun 28 What’s next for U.S. health policy? By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press There's no shortage of pressing issues, including prescription drug prices, high insurance deductibles and long-term care. Continue reading
Jun 21 Report: Vets on waiting lists for health care up 50 percent since last year By Associated Press The number of veterans seeking health care but ending up on waiting lists of one month or more is 50 percent higher now than it was a year ago when a scandal over false records and long wait times wracked… Continue reading
May 23 Democrats’ next health care issue to tackle? ‘Underinsurance’ By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press A different health care issue has emerged for Democrats, in sync with the party's pitch to workers and middle-class voters ahead of next year's elections. It's not the uninsured, but rather the problem of high out-of-pocket costs for people already… Continue reading
May 21 As they lay dying: Medicare rules rob voiceless ALS patients of the ability to communicate By Philip Moeller In early 2014, Medicare changed some of its rules and effectively took away the ability of many people with ALS to communicate. Despite upcoming changes, the current limitations are still being felt by patients and their families. Continue reading
May 02 Watch 5:24 Why are Baltimore teens in poorer health than those in urban Nigeria? By PBS News Hour In the Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown, the infant mortality rate is more than than six times the national average, and life expectancy is more than a decade lower than in the rest of the country. And the health outlook is… Continue watching
May 01 Medicare reveals how much it spends on prescription drugs for Americans By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News The data show that 14 drugs cost the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries more than $1 billion each, accounting for nearly a quarter of Medicare prescription drug spending in 2013. Most of those drugs are used to treat chronic conditions… Continue reading