Category: Uninsured

‘Pennie’-Pinching States Take Over Obamacare Exchanges From Feds

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are leaving the federal marketplace this fall to save money and will start their own insurance exchanges. Kentucky, New Mexico, Virginia and Maine are looking to join them in 2021 or beyond.

In Texas, More People Are Losing Their Health Insurance as COVID Cases Climb

During the pandemic, nearly 700,000 additional Texans have lost health insurance. The Lone Star State already had more uninsured people than any other. It has given people with COVID symptoms pause before seeking medical care.

Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA

Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.

Analysis Finds List Prices for COVID-19 Tests Range from $20 to $850 At Large Hospitals Nationwide

A new KFF analysis of what large hospitals nationwide charge for out-of-network COVID-19 tests show a wide range of publicly posted prices — from $20 to $850 for a single test. In many cases, the prices exceed what Medicare pays for COVID testing…

NIH Spearheads Study To Test At-Home Screening For HPV And Cervical Cancer

The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor’s office.

Must-Reads Of The Week

KHN executive editor Damon Darlin wades through mounds of health care policy stories — so you don’t have to.

Five Things to Know about the Cost of COVID-19 Testing and Treatment

This brief answer key questions on affordability of COVID-19 testing and treatment for people who are uninsured and those insured through private coverage, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Analysis Estimates Up To 2 Million Uninsured People Could Require COVID-19 Hospitalization

A new KFF analysis estimates that between 670,000 and 2 million uninsured people around the country eventually could be hospitalized with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Reimbursing hospitals for those treatments coul…

Estimated Cost of Treating the Uninsured Hospitalized with COVID-19

This brief estimates the total amount that will be spent to reimburse hospitals for care for the uninsured with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: All Coronavirus All The Time

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing changes to the U.S. health system that were previously unthinkable. Yet some fights ― including over the Affordable Care Act and abortion — persist even in this time of national emergency. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Liz Szabo about the latest installment of KHN-NPR’s “Bill of the Month.”