Even as it chips away at Obamacare, the Trump administration is solidly behind state-based initiatives to cover high-cost patients, known as “reinsurance” programs. It approved two more last week. [ED NOTE: JULY 30-31]
Category: states
Feds Urge States To Encourage Cheaper Plans Off The Exchanges
Many insurers added surcharges to policies they sold to individuals last year to make up for a cut in federal funding. Now, federal officials suggest that states encourage insurers to sell policies without those surcharges outside of the marketplace to help people who don’t get a premium subsidy.
‘No One Is Ever Really Ready’: Aid-In-Dying Patient Chooses His Last Day
With its expansion to Hawaii this year, medical aid-in-dying is now approved in eight U.S. jurisdictions. Even when legal, the controversial practice of choosing to die after a terminal diagnosis is difficult, said one Seattle man who shared his final deliberations.
Medicaid Officials Target Home Health Aides’ Union Dues
Federal officials are proposing a rule to prohibit home health aides paid directly by Medicaid from having their dues for the powerful Service Employees International Union automatically deducted from their paychecks. The effort would likely mean those workers are far less likely to pay dues and could diminish the union’s influence.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Coming Soon: ‘Long-Term Short-Term’ Plans
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about the latest Trump administration efforts to address high drug prices, what’s next for short-term health insurance plans and insider trading charges against a New York GOP congressman.
Doctors Reckon With High Rate Of Suicide In Their Ranks
The devastating loss of a promising young doctor prompts soul-searching and action at one of the nation’s largest emergency room staffing companies.
Patients With Chronic Pain Feel Caught In An Opioid-Prescribing Debate
States are passing laws that limit a doctor’s ability to prescribe opioids. Doctors and patients alike are wrestling with what that means in cases of chronic pain.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Congress And Health Care. Again.
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about the new push on health legislation by Republicans in the House, as well as developments on Medicaid work requirements, drug prices and the fate of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health stories of the week.
A Transgender Woman’s Quest For Surgery Caught In Political Crosswinds
Dramatic policy swings, from an unprecedented expansion of transgender rights under the Obama administration to the unpredictable reduction of trans rights under President Donald Trump, have left many trans Americans feeling the whiplash.
States Attacking ACA Would Hurt Most If Shield On Preexisting Conditions Were Axed
A coalition of Republican states has launched a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, including provisions requiring insurers to offer coverage to people with preexisting conditions without raising rates. An analysis shows that some of these states have the highest proportion of such residents.
