A Conversation about San Francisco’s Health Agenda with Dr. Grant Colfax June 25, 2019 Event Across a wide range of health care issues challenging the U.S., San Francisco has been at the forefront of identifying and implementing innovative solutions that can influence what other communities do. On Tuesday, June 25, KFF hosted a discussion with San Francisco’s new public health director Dr. Grant Colfax about…
The Only Health Care Prices That Matter to Consumers June 25, 2019 Perspective In this column, Drew Altman zeroes in on a key test for when the implementing rules are written for the new executive order on hospital price transparency: consumers will need to know what amount they must pay out of pocket to really help them shop on price.
Coverage for Abortion Services in Medicaid, Marketplace Plans and Private Plans June 24, 2019 Issue Brief This brief reviews current federal and state policies on Medicaid and insurance coverage of abortion services and presents national and state estimates on the availability of abortion coverage for women enrolled in private plans, Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans, and Medicaid.
How Many Medicare Part D Enrollees Had High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs in 2017? June 21, 2019 Issue Brief The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit has helped improve the affordability of medications for people with Medicare. Yet Part D enrollees can face relatively high out-of-pocket costs because the Part D benefit does not have a hard cap on out-of-pocket spending. This analysis presents the latest data on out-of-pocket drug spending among Medicare Part D enrollees without low-income subsidies who have costs above the catastrophic coverage threshold.
Poll: Most Americans See Antibiotic Resistance as a Public Health Problem, But Nearly Half Have Not Taken Antibiotics As Prescribed June 21, 2019 News Release While most Americans believe that antibiotic resistance poses a public health problem, new KFF polling finds nearly half (45%) say they personally have not taken antibiotics as prescribed – one factor contributing to the rise of “superbugs” that are resistant to existing treatment. Those misusing antibiotics includes people who say…
Data Note: Public Awareness Around Antibiotic Resistance June 21, 2019 Issue Brief This data note examines the public’s knowledge and concerns about antibiotic resistance and also gauges the public’s experiences using antibiotics and their interactions with doctor and health care providers.
About 1 in 6 Emergency Visits and Hospital Stays Had At Least One Out-of-Network Charge in 2017 June 20, 2019 News Release In roughly 1 of every 6 emergency room visits and inpatient hospital stays in 2017, patients came home with at least one out-of-network medical bill, a new KFF analysis finds. More specifically, 18 percent of all emergency visits and 16 percent of in-network hospital stays had at least one out-of-network…
An Examination of Surprise Medical Bills and Proposals to Protect Consumers from Them June 20, 2019 Issue Brief This analysis examines how often patients get hit with surprise medical bills, what circumstances tend to give rise to them and what proposals are being considered to protect consumers from this problem.
Universal Coverage May Not Mean Everyone Has Health Insurance June 19, 2019 Perspective Universal coverage is a big and important goal. But would absolutely everyone be covered under current proposals? Is it a better rallying cry for Democrats in the primaries or the general election? Drew Altman analyzes these questions in an Axios column.
KFF Health Tracking Poll – June 2019: Health Care in the Democratic Primary and Medicare-for-all June 18, 2019 Poll Finding In anticipation of upcoming Democratic presidential debates, this poll finds that Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that health care is a top issue they want to hear candidates talk about. When asked to say in their own words what health care issue they specifically want to hear about, affordability emerges as one of the top issues. The poll also probes the public about different possible implications of implementing a Medicare-for-all plan and finds that most Americans don’t realize how dramatically such a proposal would revamp the current health care system.