Health care

We’re still sifting through the fallout of Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week. One consequence: It’s reignited the debate in some states about whether to expand Medicaid. First out of the gate, the Kansas Legislature. Yesterday, state lawmakers sent the governor a bill to do just that. Nineteen states […]

What now? That’s the question after House Republicans last week failed to pass a repeal-and-replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Over the weekend President Trump predicted the ACA will “explode.” One way that could happen is if more insurers drop out of state and federal exchanges in 2018. They’re worried […]

The latest carrot that House leadership and the White House are using to win conservative Republican votes for the health care bill is repealing an Obamacare provision that standardized insurance policies. Under Obamacare, virtually all insurance policies cover things like hospitalization, mental health, prescription drugs and pregnancies – known as essential health benefits. But guaranteeing those […]

On Thursday night, the House is expected to vote on a bill to repeal Obamacare. The only hurdle is Republicans themselves. House leaders are desperate to get enough conservatives on board to get the bill to the Senate, so last night they made some changes to it. One sweetener: letting states add work requirements to […]

Want to know when it’s a good time to go to the hospital? Seems it’s when the doctors are being watched. Every few years the accrediting agency known as the Joint Commission conducts random hospital inspections. A new study out in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds that mortality rates drop when the inspectors show […]