New Data Show Increased Outreach to 988 Following Implementation of the Number for the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Hotline February 28, 2023 News Release A KFF analysis finds that outreach to the new 988 number for the national suicide prevention and crisis hotline increased after its implementation in mid-July, then steadied until December 2022, when it rose again. Text volume increased more than 700 percent compared to the year prior but remains a smaller…
Medicare Advantage Insurers Report Much Higher Gross Margins Per Enrollee Than Insurers in Other Markets February 28, 2023 News Release A new analysis of health insurers’ 2021 financial data shows that insurers continue to report much higher gross margins per enrollee in the Medicare Advantage market than in other health insurance markets. The analysis examines insurers’ financial data in the Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, individual (non-group), and fully insured…
Rural Hospitals Have Fared Worse Financially in States that Haven’t Expanded Medicaid Coverage February 23, 2023 News Release Rural hospitals fared worse financially in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act than in states that expanded Medicaid, a new KFF analysis finds. Nearly one third of all rural hospitals nationally are in the 11 states that have not approved the expansion of…
New KFF Trackers Document State and Federal Reproductive Rights Litigation Across the Country February 23, 2023 News Release KFF has created two new trackers to follow swift-moving reproductive rights litigation in the state and federal courts. The tools, which are currently tracking the status of 21 state cases in 15 states and eight federal cases, will be updated regularly as the litigation proceeds. Major cases pending in federal…
Nearly Half of Young Women Report Negative Interactions with Health Care Providers February 22, 2023 News Release Among women ages 18-35 with a clinical visit in the past two years, more than four in 10 (46%) report experiencing a negative interaction with a health care provider, according to a new analysis of 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey (WHS) data. These interactions included a provider either dismissing patients’…
Prescriptions to Treat Opioid Overdoses and Opioid Use Disorder Among Medicaid Enrollees Rose Sharply in the Years Leading Up to the Pandemic February 17, 2023 News Release State Medicaid programs saw a doubling of prescriptions for medications used to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) or rapidly reverse opioid overdoses from 2016 to 2019, finds a new KFF analysis. KFF analysts studied the latest available Medicaid claims data — detailed and comprehensive administrative data that can help answer…
Analysis: Inconsistencies Within Hospital Price Transparency Data Make Cost Comparisons Difficult February 10, 2023 News Release Since 2021, federal law has required hospitals to publicly post information about their standard prices and negotiated discount rates for common health services to encourage consumers to compare prices and to promote competition. To date, however, the transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with the law are messy,…
Nearly Four in Ten Say Their Households Were Sick with COVID-19, the Flu, or RSV Recently Even as Most People Say They Aren’t Too Worried About Getting Seriously Ill February 7, 2023 News Release Booster update remains modest; half of those already boosted are waiting for updated CDC guidelines to get another dose Nearly four in ten (38%) people say their households were affected by this winter’s triple threat of viruses, with someone getting sick with the flu, COVID-19, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),…
Medicare Advantage Plans Denied 2 Million Prior Authorization Requests in 2021, About 6% of Such Requests February 2, 2023 News Release Medicare Advantage plans denied two million prior authorization requests for health care services in whole or in part in 2021, or about six percent of the 35 million requests submitted on behalf of enrollees that year, a new KFF analysis finds. Prior authorization is intended to ensure that health care…
The Public, Including Women of Childbearing Age, Are Largely Confused About the Legality of Medication Abortion and Emergency Contraceptives in Their States February 1, 2023 News Release More than six months since the Supreme Court issued their Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, there is widespread public confusion about the medication abortion pill and whether it is legal at the state level, according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll. The poll also finds many are…
