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A federal judge鈥檚 recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act is by no means the final word. Even parsing its impact is complicated. Here are key issues to watch as the case works its way through the legal system.
A U.S. District Court ruling overturned the section of the Affordable Care Act that makes preventive health services 鈥 from colonoscopies to diabetes screenings and more 鈥 available at no cost to consumers.
Medi-Cal serves more than one-third of the state鈥檚 population 鈥 offering a dizzying range of care to a diverse population. In the new 鈥淔aces of Medi-Cal鈥 series, California Healthline will assess the program鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses through the lives and experiences of its enrollees.
Consumers may find relief in some key changes made by Congress and the Biden administration, although other issues remain unsettled.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Doctors are divided on whether blanket testing of breast cancer patients is warranted, since scientists and physicians are sometimes unsure about how to interpret the results.
The Affordable Care Act required that health insurers provide many medical screenings and prevention services at no out-of-pocket cost to health plan members. But insurers and employers may consider adding cost sharing for preventive services now that a federal court ruled the ACA鈥檚 mandate is unconstitutional.
A federal judge in Texas issued a decision this week that affects the Affordable Care Act. It says one way that preventive services are selected for no-cost coverage is unconstitutional.
A federal judge in Texas 鈥 the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 鈥 has ruled against some of the ACA鈥檚 preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 installment.
Even a decade in, the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 recommendations to simply cover preventive screening and care without cost sharing remain confusing and complex.
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers cannot charge consumers for various preventive services that have been recommended by experts. But if those screenings indicate more testing is needed to determine whether something is wrong, patients may be on the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars for diagnostic services.
Preventive care, like screening colonoscopies, is supposed to be free of charge to patients under the Affordable Care Act. But some hospitals haven鈥檛 gotten the memo.
An aging population in need of regular cancer screenings has driven private equity companies, seeking profits, to invest in many gastroenterology practices and set up aggressive billing practices. Steep prices on routine tests are one consequence for patients.
Congress is back in session, but covid diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a working majority to approve continued covid funding. Meanwhile, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed yet another lawsuit challenging a portion of the law, and we say goodbye to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who left a long legacy of health laws. Rachel Cohrs of STAT News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
A Texas federal judge, who previously ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, has signaled his openness to ending the law鈥檚 popular coverage requirement for preventive services.
The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor鈥檚 office.
Companies are aggressively touting 3D mammograms, although there鈥檚 no evidence they save lives.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people who are at high risk of contracting HIV take PrEP, a preventive treatment. The decision means most health plans will be required to cover the drugs without charging patients. But the recommendation doesn鈥檛 apply to the other clinical and lab services people need.
Health was a featured player in President Donald Trump鈥檚 2019 State of the Union address. The president set goals to bring down prescription drug prices, end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and cure childhood cancer, among other things. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Ollstein of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 provide their favorite health policy stories of the week. Rovner also interviews KHN senior correspondent Phil Galewitz about the current 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature.
New research not only confirms the heart health benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet, but also tracks these benefits over the long term.
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