Dec 08 Federal defense contractors find a new profitable business: Obamacare By Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News In a way that is deeply changing Washington contracting, growth opportunities from the federal government have increasingly come not from war but from healing, an examination by Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post shows. Continue reading
Dec 03 Should you ditch your employer’s insurance for Medicare? By Philip Moeller In the last few days before Medicare open enrollment ends for the year, Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller takes a question from a reader of a certain age who's not sure whether he should choose one of his employer's… Continue reading
Nov 24 Is the U.S. really facing a serious doctor shortage? By Julie Rovner, KFF Health News Many medical groups, led by the Association of American Medical Colleges, say there’s little doubt. “We think the shortage is going to be close to 130,000 in the next 10 to 12 years,” says Atul Grover, the group’s chief public… Continue reading
Nov 21 Jonathan Gruber: Success of insurance marketplaces hinges on competition By Simone Pathe The second year of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act is now underway. This year, more insurers are participating in health insurance marketplaces, and if evidence from last year is any indication, increased competition should result in lower premiums. Continue reading
Nov 17 Healthcare.gov is back for open enrollment. How’s it doing? By Phil Galewitz, Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News “The vast majority of people coming to the site were able to get on and do what they were intending to do,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylva Burwell said Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press, adding that 500,000 people… Continue reading
Nov 11 Consumer guide on health law enrollment: Is the second time the charm? By Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News Haven’t thought about the health care law for a while? Now’s the time. Passed in 2010, the law requires most Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine. While many Americans get health coverage through their employers, starting Nov. Continue reading
Oct 29 Don’t let your Medicare Advantage plan disappear on you By Philip Moeller If your current Medicare Advantage plan will no longer be offered next year, you should have received a notice to that effect. And you should have read it. Maybe you did and maybe you didn’t. Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phillip… Continue reading
Sep 22 Why so many people die in hospitals instead of at home By Fred Mogul, WNYC Specialists at the Dartmouth Healthcare Atlas maintain that one of the main drivers of this phenomenon is quantity: people end up in hospitals here so often, they say, because this region simply has a lot of hospital beds. Continue reading
Sep 19 Adults with autism locked out of health coverage due to age limits By Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News Unfortunately, once someone with autism turns 21, “they fall off a cliff,” says Lorri Unumb, vice president of state government affairs at Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization. “It’s the next big frontier that’s got to be addressed.”… Continue reading
Sep 10 Employer-provided health care costs saw only modest increases in 2014 By Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News While both critics and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are likely to find fodder for their positions, the report portrays 2014 as a relatively stable year for employer coverage, with little change in the type of plans offered or… Continue reading