Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say ‘Yes’
States are plowing billions of dollars into a high-stakes health care experiment that’s exploding around the country: using scarce public health insurance money to provide housing for the poorest and sickest Americans. California is going the biggest, pumping $12 billion…
Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million
We’re halfway through the Medicaid “unwinding,” in which states are dropping people from the government health insurance program for the first time since the pandemic began. Millions of people have been dumped from the rolls since April, often for procedural…
Self-Defense 101: Keeping Your Cool While You Fight
Dan Weissmann Navigating the U.S. health care system can feel like a “battle royale.” From challenging unfair medical bills to wrestling with insurance companies over pre-authorizations, patients have to be ready to stick up for themselves. So, how can you…
Readers Weigh Downsides of Medicare Advantage and Stick Up for Mary Lou Retton
Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. In response to Sarah Jane Tribble’s report about growing enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans — and…
With Trump Front of Mind, New Hampshire Voters Cite Abortion and Obamacare as Concerns
Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News HANOVER, N.H. — Health care issues are important to Lana Leggett-Kealey, who works as a genetic genealogist. But on Tuesday, as she walked out of her polling place at a local high school and into…
Medicare Advantage Is Popular, but Some Beneficiaries Feel Buyer’s Remorse
Medicare Advantage plans are booming — 30.8 million of the 60 million Americans with Medicare are now enrolled in the private plans rather than the traditional government-run program. But a little-known fact: Once you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, you…
Watch: Older Americans Say They Feel Stuck in Medicare Advantage Plans
As enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the coverage works, including from people who say they are stuck in the private plans as their health declines. KFF Health News’ Sarah Jane Tribble explains….
Insurance Doesn’t Always Cover Hearing Aids for Kids
Joyce Shen was devastated when doctors said her firstborn, Emory, hadn’t passed her newborn hearing screening. Emory was diagnosed with profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears as an infant, meaning sounds are extremely muffled. But Shen and her husband,…
Biden Cracks Down on Prior Authorization — But There Are Limits
More than a year after it was initially proposed, the Biden administration announced a final rule yesterday that will change how insurers in federal programs such as Medicare Advantage use prior authorization — a long-standing system that prevents many patients…
Cómo impactaría una segunda presidencia de Trump en la atención de salud
En la campaña presidencial, el ex presidente Donald Trump está prometiendo, una vez más, derogar y reemplazar la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA), una meta vaga que se convirtió en uno de los fracasos más llamativos…
What Would a Second Trump Presidency Look Like for Health Care?
On the presidential campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is, once again, promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — a nebulous goal that became one of his administration’s splashiest policy failures. “We’re going to fight for much…
Mary Lou Retton’s Explanation of Health Insurance Takes Some Somersaults
Former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton spoke out last week on the NBC “Today” show about what she said was a rare pneumonia that almost killed her and resulted in an expensive, monthlong hospital stay. It was a shocking reveal….
Adultos mayores se sienten “atrapados” en planes de Medicare Advantage
En 2016, Richard Timmins fue a un seminario informativo gratuito para aprender más sobre la cobertura de Medicare. “Escuché al agente de seguros y, básicamente, hizo publicidad de Medicare Advantage”, dijo Timmins. El agente describió la cobertura menos costosa y…
Older Americans Say They Feel Trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans
In 2016, Richard Timmins went to a free informational seminar to learn more about Medicare coverage. “I listened to the insurance agent and, basically, he really promoted Medicare Advantage,” Timmins said. The agent described less expensive and broader coverage offered…
Most People Dropped in Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Never Tried to Renew Coverage, Utah Finds
A first-of-its-kind survey of people who lost Medicaid coverage last year found just over half made no effort to renew their coverage — in many cases because they were unable to navigate paperwork requirements. The survey sheds light on why…
Woman Petitions Health Insurer After Company Approves — Then Rejects — Her Infusions
Lauren Sausser When KFF Health News published an article in August about the “prior authorization hell” Sally Nix said she went through to secure approval from her insurance company for the expensive monthly infusions she needs, we thought her story…
Utah Survey Shows Why So Many People Were Dumped From Medicaid
It’s one of the biggest mysteries in health policy: What happened to millions of Americans kicked out of Medicaid last year? A survey conducted for state officials in Utah, obtained by KFF Health News, holds some clues. Like many states,…
Se avecinan cambios para Medi-Cal en 2024, pero ¿beneficiarán a los pacientes?
Medi-Cal, el programa de salud de Medicaid en California, está al borde de cambios importantes que podrían solucionar problemas de larga data y mejorar la atención médica para la población de bajos ingresos del estado. A partir del 1 de…
Más estados amplían cobertura de salud para inmigrantes sin papeles, en medio de crisis en la frontera
Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News Cada vez más estados están lanzando programas de seguro médico para inmigrantes —incluyendo a aquellos que viven en el país sin papeles—, financiados por los contribuyentes, mientras republicanos critican al presidente Joe Biden por un…
States Expand Health Coverage for Immigrants as GOP Hits Biden Over Border Crossings
A growing number of states are opening taxpayer-funded health insurance programs to immigrants, including those living in the U.S. without authorization, even as Republicans assail President Joe Biden over a dramatic increase in illegal crossings of the southern border. Eleven…
Bold Changes Are in Store for Medi-Cal in 2024, but Will Patients Benefit?
California’s safety-net health program, Medi-Cal, is on the cusp of major changes that could rectify long-standing problems and improve health care for the state’s low-income population. Starting Jan. 1, Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, will implement new standardized contracts with its…
Cancer Patients Face Frightening Delays in Treatment Approvals
Marine Corps veteran Ron Winters clearly recalls his doctor’s sobering assessment of his bladder cancer diagnosis in August 2022. “This is bad,” the 66-year-old Durant, Oklahoma, resident remembered his urologist saying. Winters braced for the fight of his life. Little…
A partir del 1 de enero, todos los inmigrantes en California pueden calificar para Medi-Cal, más allá de su estatus legal
Milagro, inmigrante peruana del condado de Riverside, ha tenido un acceso intermitente a la atención médica en las dos décadas que ha estado en este país. La mujer de 48 años, que trabaja como gerente administrativa en una organización sin…
When a Quick Telehealth Visit Yields Multiple Surprises Beyond a Big Bill
In September 2022, Elyse Greenblatt of Queens returned home from a trip to Rwanda with a rather unwelcome-back gift: persistent congestion. She felt a pain in her sinuses and sought a quick resolution. Covid-19 couldn’t be ruled out, so rather…
In New Year, All Immigrants in California May Qualify for Medicaid Regardless of Legal Status
Milagro, a Peruvian immigrant in Riverside County, California, has had spotty access to health care in the two decades she’s been in this country. The 48-year-old, who works as the office manager at a nonprofit, can get emergency care through…
Dodging the Medicare Enrollment Deadline Can Be Costly
Susan Jaffe Angela M. Du Bois, a retired software tester in Durham, North Carolina, wasn’t looking to replace her UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan. She wasn’t concerned as the Dec. 7 deadline approached for choosing another of the privately run health…
Readers Slam Hospital Monopolies and Blame the Feds for Understaffed Nursing Homes
Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. Why Hospital Monopolies Are a Bad Idea I recently read the article about Ballad Health by…
Biden Wants States to Ensure Obamacare Plans Cover Enough Doctors and Hospitals
The Biden administration plans to push states to boost oversight of the number of doctors, hospitals, and other health providers insurers cover in Obamacare plans, under rules proposed in November. The annual regulatory proposal, known as the payment parameters rule,…
Hospitals and Doctors Are Fed up With Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage plans are pretty popular with both lawmakers and ordinary Americans — they now enroll about 31 million people, representing just over half of everyone in Medicare, by KFF’s count. But among doctors and hospitals, it’s a different story….
California’s Ambitious Medicaid Experiment Gets Tripped Up in Implementation
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly two years into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $12 billion experiment to transform California’s Medicaid program into a social services provider for the state’s most vulnerable residents, the institutions tasked with providing the new services aren’t effectively doing…
El daño colateral de la crisis de Medicaid: miles están perdiendo beneficios de alimentos
Katheryn Houghton and Rachana Pradhan and Samantha Liss Una hora antes del amanecer, Shelly Brost caminó una milla bajo la lluvia helada hasta la oficina de asistencia pública de Missoula, en Montana. Se le estaba acabando el tiempo para demostrar…
Medicare Advantage Increasingly Popular With Seniors — But Not Hospitals and Doctors
A hospital system in Georgia. Two medical groups in San Diego. Another in Louisville, Kentucky, and nearly one-third of Nebraska hospitals. Across the country, health care providers are refusing to accept some Medicare Advantage plans — even as the coverage…
Uncle Sam Wants You … to Help Stop Insurers’ Bogus Medicare Advantage Sales Tactics
Susan Jaffe After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash a special weapon to make sure companies follow the new rules: you. Officials at the…
To Get Health Insurance, This Couple Made a Movie
Dan Weissmann Last fall, Ellen Haun and Dru Johnston were hustling to get their health insurance sorted out for 2023. The Hollywood couple are members of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and writers. Members have to earn about $26,000 a…
Adultos mayores, detectives contra avisos engañosos de Medicare Advantage
Después de una ofensiva sin precedentes contra las publicidades engañosas de las aseguradoras que venden planes privados de Medicare Advantage y de medicamentos, la administración Biden espera utilizar un arma especial para asegurarse que las empresas sigan las nuevas reglas:…
Trump Puts Obamacare Repeal Back on Agenda
The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is…