Watch: As AI Makes More Health Coverage Decisions, the Risks to Patients Grow
[embedded content] This year, executives from nearly every major health insurance company made the same declaration in calls with Wall Street analysts: Using artificial intelligence to make coverage decisions would help save them money. Even the Trump administration is testing AI’s usefulness in managing the prior authorization process for the Medicare program, as well as […]
States Face Another Challenge With Medicaid Work Rules: Staffing Shortages
Katie Crouch says calling her state’s Medicaid agency to get information about her benefits can feel like a series of dead ends. “The first time, it’ll ring interminably. Next time, it’ll go to a voice mail that just hangs up on you,” said the 48-year-old, who lives in Delaware. “Sometimes you’ll get a person who […]
Personas mayores inmigrantes pierden la cobertura de Medicare a pesar de haber aportado por años
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rosa María Carranza se inclinó para sostener la espalda de una niña de 3 años mientras la pequeña trepaba una roca en las colinas boscosas del noreste de Oakland. Vestida con ropa de senderismo y collares de cuentas, Carranza, de 67 años, se movía entre árboles y niños en una mañana soleada […]
Immigrant Seniors Lose Medicare Coverage Despite Paying for It
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rosa María Carranza leaned forward to hold a 3-year-old’s back as the girl climbed a rock in the forested hills of northeast Oakland. Dressed in hiking gear and beaded necklaces, Carranza, 67, maneuvered between trees and children on a sunny morning in December. “Hold on to that branch,” she said in Spanish. […]
What the Health? From KFF Health News: GOP Mulls More Health Cuts
The Host Recent polling finds that health costs are a top worry for much of the American public, while Republicans in Congress are considering still more cuts to federal health spending on programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot ban mental health professionals from using […]
What the Health? From KFF Health News: A Headless CDC
The Host The Trump administration this week missed a deadline to nominate a new director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without a nominee, current acting Director Jay Bhattacharya — who is also the director of the National Institutes of Health — has to give up that title, leaving no one at the […]
Algunos adultos de mediana edad deciden posponer la atención médica hasta tener Medicare
John Galvin es consciente de que necesita una colonoscopía. Pero está esperando hasta diciembre para hacerla, cuando cumpla 65 años y califique para Medicare. Estaba pensando en retrasar el estudio, contó, porque este año la prima mensual del seguro de Obamacare se le triplicó a $2.460, lo que es igual a cerca de un tercio […]
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare
John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he’s waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it — then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, about a third of his income, he said. And with a […]
Oz Says California’s Not Fighting Health Care Fraud, but Data Shows It’s Part of a Larger Battle
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For weeks, Mehmet Oz has been waging a public feud with California leaders over health care fraud, accusing the blue state of failing to adequately combat such abuse. Oz, who heads the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, alleged that there was approximately $3.5 billion of fraud in the hospice and […]
Watch: Affordability Plagues Health Care in Its Shift From Nonprofit to Profit Machine
[embedded content] On What the Health? From KFF Health News, distributed by WAMU, chief Washington correspondent and host Julie Rovner sat down with Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF, to talk about the likelihood of a national health care debate to rein in costs. As the midterm elections approach, the cost of health care […]