Medicaid
Half a million people in 11 states have lost Medicaid coverage since April
More than 500,000 people across 11 states have lost their Medicaid coverage since the unwinding of a policy that allowed people to stay in the program throughout the pandemic. The data, reported by the states and tracked by health policy researcher KFF, shows that of the five states providing data on people who lost Medicaid […]
Beyond the ‘Private Option’ for Medicaid Expansion
AP Chad Latch with his daughter Ruby Latch, in their home in North Little Rock, Arkansas, is among more than 210,000 low-income residents who became eligible for health insurance under the state’s “private option” model for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Other GOP states are asking for variations on the same theme. (AP) […]
Q&A: States and Drug Prices
© AP Demonstrators march in front of Gilead Science’s Foster City, California, headquarters protesting the $28,500 price per patient for its AIDS treatment Stribild. The company is hearing similar complaints now over the $84,000 price tag for a course of treatment for its new hepatitis C treatment, Sovaldi. (AP) The new hepatitis C drug Sovaldi […]
Feds to Consider Paying for End-of-Life Planning
© AP Hospice patient Jocelyn Green, left, discusses medications with registered nurse Tanya Diedrich, of DeKalb County Hospice, at Green’s home in DeKalb, Illinois. The Obama administration is considering whether to reimburse doctors for conducting end-of-life conversations with patients. The federal government may reimburse doctors for talking to Medicare patients and their families about “advance […]
Health Insurance and Death Rates
Valerie Spain of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was able to find insurance through the Massachusetts health care law, which was a model for the Affordable Care Act. A recent study found that the death rate in Massachusetts declined as more people gained health insurance. (AP) The mortality rate in Massachusetts declined substantially in the four years after […]
States Enroll Former Foster Youth in Medicaid
Jose Antonio Machado, 18, cooks pasta at his home in Miami. Machado was placed in a foster home in 2011 when his mother, an unauthorized immigrant, was deported. Nationwide, 26,000 youths are “emancipated” from foster care every year. The Affordable Care Act requires states to provide Medicaid coverage for these former foster youths until their […]
Managing Diabetes with Telemedicine
TWEET THIS FACT SEE FULL STATELINE INFOGRAPHIC Diabetes afflicts more than 22 million Americans, or 7 percent of the total population, and the number of people diagnosed every year is skyrocketing. At a cost of $245 billion in 2012, the disease’s toll on the economy has increased by more than 40 percent since 2007, according […]
Nearly 4 Million Seriously Mentally Ill Still Without Insurance
Community–based mental health facilities, like the Riverwood Centers in Minnesota that helped Bruce Echelberry, above, through depression, are facing public funding cuts and closures. Some low-income patients still needing mental health care will be covered by states, including Minnesota, that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. (AP) Some might consider Kelly Troyer of South […]
Remote Medicine Tests Physician Licensing Rules
Psychiatrist Terry Rabinowitz consults with nurse Leslie Orelup at Helen Porter Nursing Home in Burlington, Vt. States are considering an interstate compact that would make it easier for doctors to practice telemedicine across state lines. (AP) Demand for doctors – whether in person or via a computer screen – is expected to surge as millions […]
Medicaid Expansion Spurs States to Fight Fraud, Overpayments
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announces Medicaid fraud charges against more than a dozen Russian diplomats and their spouses living in New York. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has spurred states to redouble their anti-fraud efforts. (AP) States are stepping up efforts to combat health care fraud and overpayments that cost them […]
Tough Road for States Seeking Customized Medicaid Expansion
Explore the Stateline infographic. Of the 25 states that already have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, all but Arkansas, Iowa and Michigan simply added newly eligible adults to their existing Medicaid programs. That was the easiest approach. In contrast, the states that haven’t yet expanded Medicaid but are considering doing so want to […]
States Meld Medicare and Medicaid
A physical therapist helps an elderly, disabled woman at her Warren, R.I., home. Under a new federal initiative, states are trying to improve the health care of so-called “dual eligibles,” people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. (Getty) They are a diverse group of low-income people who are disabled or elderly. Many have multiple […]