Health Care

As Medicaid Costs Soar, States Try a New Approach

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

MINNEAPOLIS — Sandy Dowland has been to the emergency room 10 times in the past year and was hospitalized during four of those visits. She has had a toe amputated and suffers from uncontrolled...
Court Rules That US Doesn’t Owe Insurers Disputed Obamacare Payments

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal government does not have to pay health insurers money they claimed they are owed under an Obamacare program, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. In a 2-1 ruling, the panel of judges...
5 Things To Know About Medicaid Work Requirements

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

The Trump administration’s decision in January to give states the power to impose work requirements on Medicaid enrollees faces a federal court hearing Friday. The lawsuit before the U.S. District...
Health Care Costs Will Rise 6 Percent Next Year, PwC Predicts

By Yuval Rosenberg

Employer health care costs are set to rise 6 percent next year, consistent with the trend over the last five years, according to new projection from PwC’s Health Research Institute . But while cost...
Record Rate of Generic Drug Approvals May Not Help Lower Prices

By Michael Rainey

The Food and Drug Administration is approving generic drugs for sale at a record pace as part of a strategy to reduce prices through increased competition for name-brand drugs. But a new analysis of...

Can Big Companies Put a Lid on Health Care Costs?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Reuters’ Caroline Humer reports on the lengths some U.S. companies are now going to in an effort to get their health care costs under control by more closely monitoring and managing employees’ health...
Why Health Care Could Be a Disaster for Republicans in November

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration has handed Democrats more ammunition in the midterm election debate over health care — you know, the issue (aside from Trump himself) voters say they care about most. Premium...
The 'Biggest Health Care News of the Year'

By Michael Rainey

The Department of Justice said Thursday that it will not defend the constitutionality of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act in a lawsuit currently underway in Texas. Here’s what you need to...
Do Deficit Hawks Have a Snowball’s Chance in Hell in Today’s Politics?

By Michael Rainey

When Starbucks founder and executive chairman Howard Schultz announced his retirement earlier this week, he set off a round of speculation about a possible presidential run in 2020. Schultz has never...
Senate Democrats Look to Hammer GOP on Health Care

By Yuval Rosenberg

Mitch McConnell’s announcement Tuesday that the Senate would cancel most of its August recess was seen as a political blow to Democrats, who would have less time at home to campaign and fund-raise...

Uninsured Rate Holds Steady in Trump’s First Year

By Michael Rainey

The number of Americans without health insurance was stable during the first year of the Trump administration, with the uninsured rate rising to 9.1 percent, a statistically insignificant increase...
GOP Efforts to Undermine Obamacare Will Raise Premiums by $1,000: Report

By Michael Rainey

Recent changes to the health insurance system will increase premiums on the federal marketplace substantially in 2019, according to a new analysis from the liberal Center for American Progress. As...
Medicaid Expansion in All States Would Lower Uninsured Rate by a Quarter: New Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

If the 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act did so next year, the uninsured rate in the United States would drop by roughly a quarter and federal spending on health...
Congress Has a Lot to Do Before Summer Break

By Michael Rainey

With the tax cuts passed and the White House increasingly focused on foreign policy, Republicans in Congress have set many of their top agenda items – from Obamacare repeal to immigration reform – on...
Why Trump's Plan Isn't a Cure for High Drug Prices

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Trump on Friday delivered a long-awaited speech outlining his administration’s blueprint for lowering prescription drug prices. Calling his plan “the most sweeping action in history to...