Laura Joszt, MA

Consumers remain very confused about their health insurance coverage, but the federal government is looking to provide a better understanding of benefits for consumers shopping for coverage.

Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni are the poster children for out-of-control drug costs, but competition from AbbVie's drug may place downward pressure on these prices.

Researchers at Stanford University found that when CMS stopped paying for 2 preventable, hospital-acquired conditions in particular, the incidence of the conditions dropped 35% in the Medicare population.

Consumers, administrators, primary care physicians and specialists all agree: they do not think that the healthcare system is on the right track, according to a study from Booz Allen Hamilton and Ipsos Public Affairs.

Marketplace health insurance premiums across the nation did not increase from 2014 to 2015. However, while the overall costs were flat, some states did see substantial average premium increases, which were offset by declines in other states.

Anthem, Inc, increased its managed care footprint in the state of Florida. On Monday, the company has entered into an agreement to acquire Simply Healthcare Holdings, Inc.

Nearly half of the patients who had access to electronic medical records withheld clinically sensitive information from some or all of their healthcare providers, according to a new study.

Comprehensive care compared with usual care for high-risk children with chronic illness reduced total hospital and clinic costs as well as illnesses, according to a new study in JAMA.

The Ebola outbreak exposed some serious gaps in the nation's ability to manage severe infectious disease threats with half of the country scoring low on key indicators related to preventing, detecting, diagnosing, and responding to outbreaks.

A new study in Hepatology highlights the need to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and at-risk populations about appropriate hepatitis C testing, referral, support, and care.

More than 700 hospitals will be penalized in fiscal year 2015 as a result of poor scores in CMS' Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program.

In the next several weeks more than 257,000 physicians and other healthcare providers will receive notification that 1% of their pay next year will be penalized for failing to meet meaningful use, CMS announced Wednesday.

While this year's flu season is expected to be severe, the vaccine is a relatively poor match for current flu strains.

Although just 15% of the US population is enrolled in a consumer-driven health plan, these individuals are more involved in their healthcare, according to a new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

States designing and testing healthcare payment and service delivery models to improve quality of care and lower costs will be receiving more than $665 million in funding from the government, according to HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

Substituting telehealth services for in-person visits can generate savings of roughly $126 per commercial telehealth visit, according to a new actuarial study from the Alliance for Connected Care.

The use of medical scribes hired to enter information into electronic health records (EHRs) has increased substantially, but can pose potential risks, according to a new article in JAMA.

Tennessee became the latest Republican-led state to gain approval for a Medicaid expansion option when Gov Bill Haslam unveiled the Insure Tennessee plan Monday morning. There are just 20 states left that have not expanded Medicaid.

Healthcare databases may allow for greater access to real-world medical data, but they can become a risk to patients and healthcare systems if they are not considered carefully, according to a study published in Current Epidemiology Reports.

Researchers found that physicians who trained in a part of the country with higher healthcare expenditures will continue to practice that type of medicine even if they move to a region with lower spending habits.

A new report has validated concerns that CMS readmission penalty models do not factor in socioeconomic and race factors and therefore unfairly penalize hospitals caring for low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations.

A majority of breast cancer patients in the US are receiving longer radiation therapy than is necessary and compared with their counterparts in other countries, according to a new study published in JAMA.

As Medicaid enrollment grows under the program's expansion, there are not enough providers to serve the increased amounts of enrollees, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General that measured the availability of specific providers in Medicaid managed care networks.

The federal government may have made strides to improve the health insurance exchanges since last year's open enrollment, but a majority of Americans view shopping for health insurance as just as bad as or worse than doing their taxes.

The updated federal health information technology strategic plan is an attempt to collect, share, and use interoperable health information to improve care; enhance individual, community, and public health; and advance research.

The hypothetical risk of illness is enough of a motivating factor for people to take action, according to a study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Financial incentives and the need to share patient information are the top motivations for physicians adopting electronic health records, according to a data brief from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Optimal use of pharmaceuticals is often overlooked for accountable care organizations (ACOs), but ensuring proper medication use, efficacy, and safety is critical to an ACO's success.

Health information exchange (HIE) use is increasing in the US, but other than reducing emergency department usage and costs, little else is known about the effect of HIEs on other outcomes, according to a new study from RAND.

The 3.6% increase in US healthcare spending in 2013 marks the lowest growth in healthcare spending since 1960, according to a report from CMS published in Health Affairs.