News Release Archives

Among People Ineligible for Subsidies, Middle-Class Older Adults Face the Least Affordable ACA Premiums, Especially Those Living in Rural Areas Where Premiums Are Highest

Mar 5, 2019

News Release

A new KFF analysis finds that Affordable Care Act marketplace premiums are least affordable for older adults who earn too much to qualify for federal subsidies, especially those living in rural areas where premiums are highest. The analysis of the lowest-cost 2019 ACA marketplace plans across U.S. counties finds that older adults not eligible for subsidies living in 28 rural Nebraska counties face the least affordable ACA premiums as a share of income. A 60-year-old…

Poll: Nearly 1 in 4 Americans Taking Prescription Drugs Say It’s Difficult to Afford Their Medicines, including Larger Shares Among Those with Health Issues, with Low Incomes and Nearing Medicare Age

Mar 1, 2019

News Release

As the Trump Administration and Congress weigh policy options to address high prescription drug prices, a fourth of people taking prescription drugs (24%) and seniors taking drugs (23%) say it is difficult for them to afford their medications, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. The groups most likely to report difficulties affording their medications include people with monthly drug costs of $100 or more (58%), in fair or poor health (49%), with annual incomes less than $40,000 (35%),…

New Short Explainer and Docu-Style Videos From Greater Than AIDS: From Getting an HIV Diagnosis to Keeping Up With Care and Treatment

Feb 27, 2019

News Release

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, – Dr. David Malebranche, MD, MPH, is back with more than 40 new #AskTheHIVDoc videos about HIV care and treatment. The latest series of one-minute, FAQ-style videos from Greater Than AIDS is designed to help individuals living with HIV and loved ones, as they navigate from receiving an HIV diagnosis to getting connected to care to keeping up with treatment. “We all need help at some time,” says Dr. Malebranche, a leading…

Analysis: Marketplace Plans Denied an Average of Nearly One in Five Claims in 2017 with Wide Variations across Insurers

Feb 25, 2019

News Release

Healthcare.gov marketplace insurers denied nearly one out of every five claims (19%) submitted for in-network services in 2017, and enrollees only appeal a tiny share (0.5%) of those denied claims, a KFF analysis of recently released claims data finds. The analysis finds a huge variation across insurers, with average denial rates as low as 1 percent and as high as 45 percent. Denial rates also vary across states, though individual insurers in the same state…

The Real Cost of Health Care: Interactive Calculator Estimates Both Direct and Hidden Household Spending

Feb 21, 2019

News Release

A new interactive tool from KFF estimates total household health spending for individuals and families in the U.S., including costs that are often less visible to consumers. Users can generate scenarios based on family size, income level, insurance source, and health status. In addition to estimating direct costs like deductibles and copayments, the tool highlights indirect spending on health care, such as state and federal taxes paid to fund public programs like Medicare and Medicaid,…

“Partial” Medicaid Expansions Could Limit States’ Spending But Cover Fewer People at a Higher Federal Cost Compared to Traditional ACA Expansions

Feb 21, 2019

News Release

If states were able to receive enhanced Affordable Care Act matching funds for “partial” expansions of Medicaid, fewer people would get health coverage and the federal government would spend more, compared to a traditional expansion under the law, KFF explains in a new brief. The explainer describes how a partial expansion would differ from a traditional ACA Medicaid expansion and summarizes some of the expected effects. It also documents which states have sought federal approval…

Analysis Finds that Medications for Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS Are the Costliest Group of Outpatient Prescription Drugs for Medicaid, While Diabetes Drugs Have Posted the Sharpest Rise in Costs

Feb 15, 2019

News Release

Antiviral medications, including those that treat hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS, cost the Medicaid program more money (before rebates) than any other group of outpatient prescription drugs for each year from 2014 to 2017, according to a new KFF analysis. The analysis of utilization and spending trends finds that antivirals accounted for more than 13 percent of the $63.6 billion in Medicaid outpatient drug spending pre-rebates in 2017 -- a level disproportionate to their utilization and…

Missouri Foundation for Health and KFF Announce New Long-term Partnership, Establish Kaiser Health News Midwest Bureau in St. Louis

Feb 14, 2019

News Release

ST. LOUIS, Mo. & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) and KFF (the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) have entered into a new long-term partnership to establish a KHN (Kaiser Health News) Midwest Bureau, based in St. Louis, Missouri. KFF – the trusted source of health policy information – produces health policy analysis, polling, and journalism, and KHN is its national health and health policy newsroom, producing in-depth news coverage of health…

Coverage at Work: The Share of Nonelderly Americans with Employer-Based Insurance Rose Modestly in Recent Years, but Has Declined Markedly Over the Long Term

Feb 1, 2019

News Release

An improving economy and the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate may be behind a modest increase in the share of Americans with job-based health insurance in recent years, but the long-term trend remains a downward one, according to a new KFF analysis. Data from the federal National Health Interview Survey show the share of the nonelderly population covered by workplace plans rose from 56.3 percent in 2013 to 58.4 percent in 2017. That was still…

Medicare Part D Enrollees with Serious Health Conditions Can Face Thousands of Dollars in Out-of-Pocket Costs Annually for Specialty Drugs

Jan 29, 2019

News Release

Despite Medicare’s protections, Part D enrollees with serious health conditions can face thousands of dollars in annual out-of-pocket costs for expensive specialty drugs, a new KFF anaylsis finds. The analysis draws on data from Medicare’s Plan Finder website to calculate expected annual 2019 costs for more than two dozen specialty tier drugs used to treat four health conditions -- cancer, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis – based on coverage and costs in national and…

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