April 17, 2019
Study: Workplace Wellness Programs Have Little Effect on Health or Costs
Workplace wellness programs have become an $8 billion industry in the U.S. But a study published Tuesday in JAMA found they don’t cut costs for employers, reduce absenteeism or improve workers’ health.
April 10, 2019
Vaccine Exemptions Surge as Parents and Doctors Evade Requirements
Doctors in California have broad authority to grant medical exemptions to vaccination, and to decide the grounds for doing so.
April 1, 2019
After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted to Managed Care, Suicide Risk Grew
The group acknowledged that factors other than the move to managed care could have played a role behind the increase, including social media, cyberbullying and lack of access to specialized mental health care.
March 28, 2019
Federal Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements -- Again
For a second time in nine months, the same federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s plan to force some Medicaid recipients to work to maintain benefits.
March 28, 2019
As Medicaid Expansion Boosts Hospital Bottom Lines, Costs Also Rise
While hospitals are financially better off since the expansion, they have increased the costs they shift to commercial health plans since 2009, the state researchers said.
March 26, 2019
To Help Mental Health Patients, Hospitals Open a New Kind of ER
In pockets across the country, hospitals are trying something new to address the unique needs of psychiatric patients: opening emergency units specifically designed to help stabilize and treat patients and connect them to longer-term resources and care.
March 21, 2019
How Some States Are Using Medicare to Control Employee Health Costs
The strategy: Use Medicare reimbursement rates to recalibrate how they pay hospitals. If the gamble pays off, more private-sector employers could start doing the same thing.
March 12, 2019
‘Medieval’ Diseases Flare as Unsanitary Living Conditions Worsen in Some States
Infectious diseases — some that ravaged populations in the Middle Ages — are resurging in California and around the country, and are hitting homeless populations especially hard.
March 7, 2019
Despite FDA Warning, Cities and Counties Will Likely Keep Importing Drugs
Cities and local governments in several states said they will continue to use a Canadian company to offer employees prescription drugs at a highly reduced price, even though federal officials raised safety concerns about the practice last week.
March 7, 2019
Mumps Quarantine at Detention Center Restricts Immigrants' Legal Access
The outbreak has also raised questions about how officials dealing with public health concerns can undermine detainees’ legal rights.
February 22, 2019
Final Abortion Rule That Would Defund Planned Parenthood Released by Trump Administration
The Trump administration Friday finalized a regulation intended to push Planned Parenthood out of the Title X federal family planning program, keeping a campaign promise to anti-abortion groups.
February 22, 2019
More and More Doctors Must Offer Overdose Reversal Drug Along With Opioids
New state laws and regulations in California, Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, Washington, Vermont and Rhode Island require physicians to “co-prescribe” or at least offer naloxone prescriptions when prescribing opioids to patients considered at high risk of overdosing.
February 21, 2019
Trump's Plan to Beat HIV Hits a Rough Road in Rural America
Strategies that work in liberal cities like Seattle won’t necessarily work in rural areas of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
February 12, 2019
Vaccine Storage Compromises Effectiveness
The federal government sets standards on the storage of vaccines. However, not all health care providers are accountable under those guidelines.
February 8, 2019
Medicaid Enrollee Drop in Missouri and Tennessee Raises Flag on Vetting Process
Medicaid enrollment nationally was down about 1.5 percent from January to October last year, the latest enrollment data available from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
February 6, 2019
Amid E-Scooter Safety Concerns, Austin Asks CDC to Investigate Injuries
Austin’s first scooter-related death occurred over the weekend. Police identified the scooter rider as Mark Sands, a 21-year-old UT student from Ireland, who died Saturday, just one day after suffering critical injuries when the electric scooter he was riding collided with a car.
January 23, 2019
Doctors Call California’s Probe of Opioid Deaths a ‘Witch Hunt’
The effort, dubbed “the Death Certificate Project,” has sparked a conflict with physicians in California and beyond, in part because the doctors being investigated did not necessarily write the prescriptions leading to a death.
January 9, 2019
Medicaid Plans Cover Doctors’ Visits, Hospital Care — and Now a GED
Medicaid health plans are starting to pay for non-traditional services such as meals, transportation, housing and other forms of assistance to improve members’ health and reduce medical costs.
January 4, 2019
California Joins the Majority and Mandates Breathalyzers for DUI Offenders
On Jan. 1, California joined the majority of states that have laws requiring drivers with drunken-driving convictions to install breathalyzers in vehicles they own or operate.
December 17, 2018
Obamacare Is Ruled Unconstitutional by a Federal Judge -- What Now?
Judge Reed C. O’Connor struck down the law, siding with a group of 18 Republican state attorneys general and two GOP governors who brought the case. O’Connor said the tax bill passed by Congress last December effectively rendered the entire health law unconstitutional.
December 11, 2018
Nursing Homes Balk at California Requiring More Direct Care of Patients
More than half of California’s nursing homes are asking to be exempted from new state regulations that would require them to spend more time directly caring for their patients.
November 30, 2018
Plans Violating Obamacare Could Now Be Eligible for Federal Subsidies
The Trump administration wants states to innovate in ways that could produce more lower-cost options, even if those alternatives do not provide the same level of financial or medical coverage as an ACA plan.
November 29, 2018
Under Trump, Number of Uninsured Kids Rose for First Time This Decade
After years of steady decline, the number of U.S. children without health insurance rose by 276,000 in 2017, according to a Georgetown University report released Thursday.
November 20, 2018
Trump's Health Plans Can Be Extended to 3 Years. Will Some Abandon Obamacare?
With new federal rules allowing short-term plans that last up to three years, agents said, some consumers are opting for these more risky policies. Adding to the appeal is the elimination of a federal tax penalty for those without comprehensive insurance, effective next year.
November 13, 2018
With Hospitalization Losing Favor, States Allow Outpatient Mental Health Treatment
Today, 47 states and the District of Columbia have laws allowing localities to set up assisted outpatient treatment, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit group that strongly supports assisted outpatient treatment.
October 23, 2018
CMS Makes It Easier for States to Opt Out of Obamacare Requirements
States would be able to use federal funding to provide subsidies to people buying short-term health insurance policies, which typically don’t provide comprehensive coverage, under guidance released Monday by the Trump administration.
October 19, 2018
Private Medicaid Plans Receive Billions in Tax Dollars, With Little Oversight
The current political debate over Medicaid centers on putting patients to work so they can earn their government benefits. Yet some experts say the country would be better served by asking this question instead: Are insurance companies — now receiving hundreds of billions in public money — earning their Medicaid checks?
October 17, 2018
States Move to Safeguard Cancer Patients’ Chances of Having Children
The state measures don’t apply to companies that are self-funded, meaning they pay their employee claims directly rather than buying state-regulated insurance policies for that purpose. They also don’t apply to government-funded programs such as Medicaid or the military’s Tricare program.
October 3, 2018
As Medicaid Expands, Court-Ordered Drug Rehab Loses Steam
Court-ordered rehab is increasingly falling out of fashion in California as Santa Cruz and 18 other counties begin to treat addiction like any other health condition — with the Medicaid program relying on evidence-based practices and trained personnel to make decisions on care.
September 26, 2018
New Mental Health Disclosure Requirement for Florida Students Concerns Parents
On registration forms for new students, the state’s school districts now must ask whether a child has ever been referred for mental health services.
September 18, 2018
Decades-Old Technology Plagues California Medicaid Program
In the shadow of Silicon Valley, the hub of the world’s digital revolution, California officials still submit their records to the feds justifying billions in Medicaid spending the old-fashioned way: on paper.
September 13, 2018
As Hurricane Nears, Officials Scramble to Protect Seniors From Florence
Perhaps no other population is as vulnerable during a hurricane as frail, older adults, especially those who are homebound or living in nursing homes.
September 7, 2018
Opioid Tax Proponents Pin Hopes on November Elections
Lawmakers in at least 10 other states intend to consider opioid taxes in upcoming legislative sessions. Many pin their hopes on the November midterm elections.
September 5, 2018
Rudy Giuliani’s Consulting Firm Helped Halt a Florida Opioid Investigation
Six months after hiring former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm, Purdue Pharma settled a Florida state investigation that had threatened to expose early illegal marketing of its blockbuster drug OxyContin, company and state records show.
September 4, 2018
Feeling the Burn: Wildfires Bring More Health Challenges for Low-Income Californians
People like Viviana and her family are hit disproportionately when wildfires ignite — because smoke adds another layer of toxic substances to the already dirty air, experts say.
August 31, 2018
The Pros and Cons of Allowing Medical Marijuana Use in Schools
Of the 31 states and Washington, D.C., that have legalized medical marijuana, at least seven have enacted laws or regulations that allow students to use it on school grounds, in part because doing so could risk their federal funding.
August 24, 2018
Medicaid Covers Foster Kids, But Health Needs Still Slip Through Cracks
Foster parents say that even with the coverage they struggle to meet the extraordinary health needs of their children. Part of the trouble is too few doctors accept Medicaid, most notably mental health specialists.
August 23, 2018
Rehabilitation Plus Rehab? Jails Treat Inmates With Opioid Addiction Medication
Nearly 1 in 5 jail and prison inmates regularly used heroin or opioids before being incarcerated, making jails a logical entry point for intervention, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
August 14, 2018
Feds Encourage Cheaper Health Plans Off Obamacare Exchanges
CMS is encouraging states to allow the sale of plans outside of those exchanges that don’t incorporate a surcharge insurers started tacking on last year.
August 9, 2018
States Get Obamacare Help From an Unlikely Source: the Trump Administration
When Tracy Deis decided in 2016 to transition from a full-time job to part-time contract work, the loss of her employer’s health insurance was not a major worry because she knew she could get coverage through the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act.
August 6, 2018
Medicaid Cuts Burden a Vulnerable Puerto Rico Post-Storm
Despite the residual effects from last year’s devastating hurricanes, Puerto Rico is moving ahead with major cuts to its health care safety net that will affect more than a million of its poorest residents.
August 1, 2018
Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions on Skimpy, Short-Term Health Plans
Insurers will again be able to sell short-term health insurance good for up to 12 months under final rules released Wednesday by the Trump administration.
July 27, 2018
Top Trump Official Dims Hopes for Single-Payer Health Care
Stepping into the land of the Trump resistance, Seema Verma flatly rejected California’s pursuit of single-payer health care as unworkable and dismissed the Affordable Care Act as too flawed to ever succeed.
July 19, 2018
Obamacare Conundrum: If the States Suing to Overturn It Win, Their Residents Will Suffer Most
If the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions are struck down in court, residents of the Republican-led states that are challenging the law have the most to lose.
July 13, 2018
Medicaid Fraud Is Flying Under Insurers' Radar
Despite receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer money, Medicaid insurers are lax in ferreting out fraud and neglect to tell states about unscrupulous medical providers, according to a federal report released Thursday.
July 10, 2018
If Roe v. Wade Is Reversed, 22 States Poised to Ban Abortion
What would the U.S. look like without Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide?
July 9, 2018
There's a Cure for Deadly Hepatitis C, But 144,000 State Prisoners Aren't Getting It
State prisons across the U.S. are failing to treat at least 144,000 inmates who have hepatitis C, a curable but potentially fatal liver disease, according to a recent survey and subsequent interviews of state corrections departments.
July 6, 2018
What a U.S.-China Trade War Could Mean for the Opioid Epidemic
The American struggle to curb opioid addiction could become collateral damage in President Donald Trump’s showdown on trade.
July 6, 2018
The Other Victims: First Responders Often Suffer in Solitude
The day a gunman fired into a crowd of 22,000 people at the country music festival in Las Vegas, hospital nursing supervisor Antoinette Mullan was focused on one thing: saving lives.
July 2, 2018
Medicaid Work Requirements Lose First Court Test
A federal judge Friday struck down a Trump administration decision allowing states to force low-income adults to work to qualify for Medicaid.
June 15, 2018
Medicaid Work Requirements Get Their Day in Court. Here's 5 Things to Know About Them.
The Trump administration’s decision in January to give states the power to impose work requirements on Medicaid enrollees faces a federal court hearing Friday.
June 7, 2018
Feds, For Now, Won't Block States From Circumventing Trump's Obamacare Cuts
Federal officials will not block insurance companies from again using a workaround to cushion a steep rise in health premiums caused by President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a program established under the Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Wednesday.
June 6, 2018
Trump Administration Releases Medicaid Scorecard
The Trump administration Monday released a Medicaid “scorecard” intended to show how the nation’s largest health program is performing. But the nation’s top Medicaid official didn’t want to draw any conclusions.
May 21, 2018
Is the Overdose-Reversal Drug Hard to Get? Depends on Where You Live.
A few months ago, Kourtnaye Sturgeon helped save someone’s life. She was driving in downtown Indianapolis when she saw people gathered around a car on the side of the road. Sturgeon pulled over, and a man told her there was nothing she could do: Two men had overdosed on opioids and appeared to be dead.
May 18, 2018
Deportation or Death? The Difficult Health Care Choices Facing Undocumented Immigrants
“Dear the most highly respected judge and court, I’m writing this because I love my mom. My mom is very important to me. I have no idea what to do without her. Even though my mom’s afraid, she’s not giving up.”
May 17, 2018
STD Epidemic, Responsible for Babies' Deaths, Reaches Record Level in California
Diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases hit a record high in California last year — with sometimes deadly consequences, according to preliminary state data released this week.
May 10, 2018
Use of Psychiatric Drugs Way Up in California Jails
The number of jail inmates in California taking psychotropic drugs has jumped about 25 percent in five years, and they now account for about a fifth of the county jail population across the state, according to a new analysis of state data.
May 7, 2018
Community Seeks Solutions for This Texas County's Alarming Suicide Rate
Smith County, which encompasses Tyler and is home to more than 225,000 residents, has the highest suicide rate among the state’s 25 most populous counties.
March 30, 2018
Thousands Mistakenly Enrolled in Medicaid During Expansion
California signed up an estimated 450,000 people under Medicaid expansion who may not have been eligible for coverage, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ chief watchdog.
March 20, 2018
Paying Hospitals to Keep People Out of Them? It Works in Maryland.
Saturdays at Mercy Medical Center used to be perversely lucrative. The dialysis clinic across the street was closed on weekends.
March 12, 2018
4 Takeaways From Trump Administration's Decision to Uphold Obamacare
That’s what federal officials told Idaho regulators and the state’s governor late Thursday regarding the state’s plan to allow insurers to sell health plans that fall short of the Affordable Care Act’s requirements.
March 9, 2018
How Medicaid Became a Go-to Funding Source for Schools
OAKLAND, Calif. — Gerardo Alejandrez used to punch classmates, throw chairs and curse at his teachers, conduct that forced him to switch from school to school. “I had a lot of anger issues,” the 16-year-old said recently.
March 6, 2018
Feds Issue Split Decision on Arkansas Medicaid Waiver
The Trump administration on Monday approved Arkansas’ request for a Medicaid work requirement but deferred a decision on the state’s request to roll back its Medicaid expansion that has added 300,000 adults to the program.
March 2, 2018
When Medicaid Charges Premiums, Thousands Fall Behind
When Arkansas lawmakers debated in 2016 whether to renew the state’s Medicaid expansion, many Republican lawmakers were swayed only if some of the 300,000 adults who gained coverage would have to start paying premiums.
February 26, 2018
All Those Medicaid Experiments? States Often Fail to Evaluate the Results.
With federal spending on Medicaid experiments soaring in recent years, a congressional watchdog said state and federal governments fail to adequately evaluate if the efforts improve care and save money.
February 16, 2018
States Pressure Feds to Let Them Import Prescription Drugs From Canada
Norm Thurston is a “free-market guy” — a conservative health economist in Republican-run Utah who rarely sees the government’s involvement in anything as beneficial.
February 15, 2018
Despite Legal Uncertainty, Blue Cross Takes Idaho's Offer to Skirt Obamacare
It’s barely been two weeks since Idaho regulators said they would allow the sale of health insurance that does not meet all of the Affordable Care Act’s requirements — a controversial step some experts said would likely draw legal scrutiny and, potentially, federal fines for any insurer that jumped in.
February 14, 2018
Why Free Vasectomy Coverage Could Cost Some Maryland Men
It was a well-intentioned effort to provide men with some of the same financial protection from birth control costs that women get. But a new Maryland law may jeopardize the ability of thousands of consumers — both men and women — to use health savings accounts.
February 13, 2018
As Aetna Goes on Trial, California Announces a New Investigation
Both of California’s health insurance regulators said they will investigate how Aetna Inc. makes coverage decisions, as the lawsuit of a California man who is suing the nation’s third-largest insurer for improper denial of care heads for opening arguments on Wednesday.
February 13, 2018
Veteran? Terminally Ill? Want Death With Dignity? That Could Get You Evicted.
California voters passed a law two years ago that allows terminally ill people to take lethal drugs to end their lives, but controversy is growing over a newer rule that effectively bans that option in the state’s eight veterans’ homes.
February 9, 2018
Trump's Subsidies Cut Threatens Basic Health Programs in 2 States
Comprehensive coverage for more than 800,000 low-income people in New York and Minnesota who pay a fraction of the typical cost of a marketplace plan may be in jeopardy after the federal government partially cut funding this year.
February 8, 2018
Overall Obamacare Enrollment Down But Up in States That Run Their Own Marketplace
After much drama leading to this year’s open enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage — a shorter time frame, a sharply reduced federal budget for marketing and assistance, and confusion resulting from months of repeal-and-replace debate — the final tally paints a mixed picture.
February 6, 2018
With Fentanyl on the Streets, California Pays Opioid Users to Test Their Drugs
Michael Marquesen first noticed about a year ago that fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid, had hit the streets of Los Angeles. People suddenly started overdosing after they shot up a new white powder that dealers promised would give them a powerful high.
February 5, 2018
Trump Administration Approves Indiana's Medicaid Plan
Indiana on Friday became the second state to win federal approval to add a work requirement for adult Medicaid recipients who gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act, but a less debated “lockout” provision in its new plan could lead to tens of thousands of enrollees losing coverage.
February 2, 2018
25,000 Medicaid Patients in Indiana Have Lost Coverage for Failing to Pay Premiums
As the Trump administration moves to give states more flexibility in running Medicaid, advocates for the poor are keeping a close eye on Indiana to see whether such conservative ideas improve or harm care.
February 1, 2018
As States Target High Drug Prices, Pharma Targets State Lawmakers
It was expected to be a perfunctory statehouse meeting — three lobbyists and a legislator discussing a proposal to educate Louisiana doctors about the price of drugs they prescribe.
January 30, 2018
Medicaid Transportation At Risk in Some States
For more than 50 years, the program for the poor and sick has been required to ferry certain clients to and from medical appointments. But a few states have sought — and received — waivers to that rule.
January 30, 2018
Idaho Is Allowing Insurers to Ignore Some Obamacare Rules. Can It Do that?
Idaho is saying it will allow insurers to ignore some ACA rules on plans not sold on the marketplace, aiming to make these state-based plans less costly.
January 17, 2018
Trump’s Work-for-Medicaid Rule Puts Work on States’ Shoulders
The Trump administration’s watershed decision Thursday to allow states to test a work requirement for adult Medicaid enrollees sparked widespread criticism from doctors, advocates for the poor, and minority and disability rights groups.
January 11, 2018
It's Official: Trump Administration to Start Letting States Add Work Requirements to Medicaid
The Trump administration early Thursday initiated a pivotal change in the Medicaid program, announcing that for the first time the federal government will allow states to test work requirements as a condition for coverage.
January 8, 2018
As Congress Debates CHIP, Some States Could Run Out of Funds Sooner Than Expected
Some states are facing a mid-January loss of funding for their Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) despite spending approved by Congress in late December that was expected to keep the program running for three months, federal health officials said Friday.
January 8, 2018
Drug Overdose Deaths Soar Nationally But Plateau in Some States
The opioid crisis on the East Coast and in the Midwest has fueled a national surge in drug deaths, even as fatal overdoses have decreased or remained stable in parts of the West, new federal data show.
January 5, 2018
Inside the New Proposed Federal Rules for Association Health Plans
The Department of Labor on Thursday released proposed new rules that proponents say will make it easier for businesses to band together in “associations” to buy health insurance.
January 5, 2018
Maine Voters Chose Medicaid Expansion, But Governor Threatens Not to Implement It
Donna Wall cares for her three adult autistic children at her home in Lewiston, Maine. It’s a full-time job. Sons Christopher and Brandon have frequent outbursts, and the stress of tending to them can be overwhelming
January 4, 2018
Pot Churches Proliferate as States Ease Access to Marijuana
Services at the Coachella Valley Church begin and end with the Lord’s Prayer. In between, there is the sacrament.
January 3, 2018
Pharmacists Can Dispense Life-Saving Overdose Drugs, But Do They?
Gale Dunham, a pharmacist in Calistoga, Calif., knows the devastation the opioid epidemic has wrought, and she is glad the anti-overdose drug naloxone is becoming more accessible.
December 22, 2017
Obamacare Enrollment Going Strong Despite Funding Cuts and Confusion
A day after President Donald Trump said the Affordable Care Act “has been repealed,” officials reported that 8.8 million Americans have signed up for coverage on the federal insurance exchange in 2018 — nearly reaching 2017’s number in half the sign-up time.
December 20, 2017
Unless Congress Acts, Alabama Will End 7,000 Kids' Health Insurance Jan. 1
Citing Congress’ failure to restore federal funding of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Alabama plans to drop 7,000 kids from coverage on New Year’s Day, the first step to shutting down coverage for everyone, state officials said Monday.
December 11, 2017
Importing Prescription Drugs Is Illegal. Some Cities, Counties and Schools Are Doing It Anyway.
Schenectady County, N.Y., is on track to pay 20 percent less on prescription drugs for its employees this year than in 2003.
December 7, 2017
Medicaid Spending Increased Last Year, But at a Much Slower Pace
U.S. health spending rose to $3.3 trillion in 2016, but the pace slowed compared to the previous two years as demand for drugs, hospital care and physician services weakened, according to a federal study released Wednesday.
December 1, 2017
Texans With HIV Went Weeks Without Medicine After Hurricane Harvey
After the floods, they had to cope with ruined homes and struggle to access lifesaving medication.
November 30, 2017
On Obamacare Marketing, California Spends More Than the U.S.
The marketing blitz is on.
November 27, 2017
Not Covered by States' Surprise Medical Bill Laws? Ambulance Rides
One patient got a $3,660 bill for a 4-mile ride. Another was charged $8,460 for a trip from one hospital that could not handle his case to another that could. Still another found herself marooned at an out-of-network hospital, where she’d been taken by ambulance without her consent.
November 22, 2017
Displaced Puerto Ricans Face Obstacles Getting Health Care
The federal government has granted people affected by the devastating hurricanes that wracked coastal states and Puerto Rico 15 extra days to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
November 16, 2017
For Millions of Insured Americans, State Health Laws Don’t Apply
Let’s say you have health insurance through your employer and live in one of 21 states with laws protecting consumers against surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers.
November 15, 2017
Why States That Expanded Medicaid Are Ending 'Retroactive Coverage'
If you’re poor, uninsured and fall seriously ill, in most states if you qualify for Medicaid — but weren’t enrolled at the time — the program will pay your medical bills going back three months. It protects hospitals, too, from having to absorb the costs of caring for these patients.
November 14, 2017
Vaccine Shortage Complicates Battle Against Hepatitis A Outbreaks
San Diego County, battling a deadly outbreak of hepatitis A, is postponing an outreach campaign to provide the second of two inoculations against the contagious liver disease until a national shortage of the vaccine is resolved, the county’s chief public health officer said.
November 14, 2017
Trump Administration Plan to Add Medicaid Work Requirement Stirs Fears
The Trump administration’s endorsement of work requirements in Medicaid and increased state flexibility is part of broader strategy to shrink the fast-growing program for the poor and advance conservative ideas that Republicans failed to get through Congress.
November 9, 2017
Trump Administration Suggests It's Ready to Approve Work Requirements for Medicaid
The Trump administration signaled Tuesday that it would allow states to impose work requirements on some adult Medicaid enrollees, a long-sought goal for conservatives that is strongly opposed by Democrats and advocates for the poor.
November 7, 2017
Enriched by the Poor: California Health Insurers Make Billions Through Medicaid
Medicaid is rarely associated with getting rich. The patients are poor, the budgets tight and payments to doctors often paltry.
October 30, 2017
Trump's Obamacare Enrollment Cuts Will Hurt Rural Areas Most
Ms. Stella’s, a home-cooking restaurant in Milledgeville, Ga., serves roast beef, grilled pork chops, chicken wings and oxtails with 24 sides from which to choose. Last spring, owners Jeri and Lucious Trawick opened a second restaurant in Eatonton, about 20 miles away, and Jeri decided to leave her full-time job to help shepherd the expansion.
October 20, 2017
Despite Efforts To Corral Medicaid Spending, States Expand Benefits
While congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump have been seeking major cuts in federal funding of Medicaid, 26 states this year expanded or enhanced benefits and at least 17 plan to do so next year, according to a report released Thursday.
October 18, 2017
The Storm Has Passed, But Puerto Rico’s Health Faces Prolonged Recovery
As President Donald Trump signals impatience to wind down emergency aid to Puerto Rico, the challenges wrought by Hurricane Maria to the health of Puerto Ricans and the island’s fragile health system are in many ways just beginning.
October 18, 2017
On Back Roads of Appalachia’s Coal Country, Mental Health Services Are as Rare as Jobs
In rural swaths of West Virginia, getting mental health services is fraught with challenges. But the need is great.
October 18, 2017
Chasing Millions In Medicaid Dollars, Hospitals Buy Up Nursing Homes
Thanks to a unique funding process, hospitals in some states are acquiring nursing homes to help cover other costs.
October 13, 2017
What's in Trump’s Health-Care Executive Order?
The Trump administration Thursday advanced a wide-ranging executive order aimed at expanding lower-cost insurance options, allowing employers to give workers money to buy their own coverage and slowing consolidation in the insurance and hospital industries.
October 12, 2017
Trump's Threats to End Obamacare Subsidies Now Costing Taxpayers More
California's health exchange said Wednesday it has ordered insurers to add a surcharge to certain policies next year because the Trump administration has yet to commit to paying a key set of consumer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
October 12, 2017
Hospitals Make Housing the Homeless Part of Their Job
During the five years Tony Price roamed the streets and dozed in doorways, the emergency rooms of Sacramento’s hospitals were a regular place for him to sleep off a hard day’s drinking.
September 27, 2017
Medicaid Covers All That? It’s More Than Just Health Care for the Poor.
When high levels of lead were discovered in the public water system in Flint, Mich., in 2015, Medicaid stepped in to help thousands of children get tested for poisoning and receive care.
September 26, 2017
3rd GOP Senator Announces Opposition to Obamacare Repeal Bill
Even a partial report from the Congressional Budget Office was enough to apparently tip the scales against the latest Republican effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act and prompted a crucial senator to announce she cannot support the bill, seemingly sinking its chances.
September 25, 2017
Trump to Shut HealthCare.Gov Down for Half of Most Sundays
The Trump administration plans to shut down the federal health insurance exchange for 12 hours during all but one Sunday in the upcoming open enrollment season.
September 20, 2017
What You Need to Know About the Last-Ditch Obamacare Repeal Bill
Republican efforts in Congress to “repeal and replace” the federal Affordable Care Act are back from the dead. Again.
September 11, 2017
As Congress Debates Health Care, Study Finds Relationship Between Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance
Efforts by Republican lawmakers to scale back Medicaid enrollment could undercut an aspect of the program that has widespread bipartisan appeal — covering more children, research published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs suggests.
September 8, 2017
In Obamacare Hearing, Governors Press Congress for Something They May Not Deliver
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has a problem — and not much time to solve it.
September 7, 2017
Obamacare Hearing Highlights Different Priorities of Insurance Commissioners and Congress
A key Senate committee Wednesday launched a set of hearings intended to lead to a short-term, bipartisan bill to shore up the troubled individual health insurance market, but a diverse group of state insurance commissioners united around some solutions that were not necessarily on the table.
September 6, 2017
Some States Extend Obamacare Enrollment Beyond Trump's New Deadline
California and several other states will exempt themselves this year from a new Trump administration rule that cuts in half the amount of time consumers have to buy individual health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
September 6, 2017
Obamacare Debate Puts State Insurance Commissioners in the Hot Seat
With insurance premiums rising and national efforts at health reform in turmoil, a group of 50 state bureaucrats whom many voters probably can’t name have considerable power over consumers’ health plans: state insurance commissioners.
September 5, 2017
States Are Transforming the Way They Treat Drug Addicts
Breann Johnson stopped using heroin on Mother’s Day this year, determined to end her 13-year addiction. Days later, she began three months of residential treatment in Riverside, Calif. — all paid for by California’s Medicaid program.
September 1, 2017
Trump Takes an Ax to Obamacare Outreach and Enrollment Funding
President Donald Trump has insisted for months that “Obamacare is already dead.”
August 30, 2017
5 Outside-the-Box Ideas for Fixing Obamacare
With Republican efforts to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act stalled, tentative bipartisan initiatives are in the works to shore up the fragile individual insurance market that serves roughly 17 million Americans.
August 16, 2017
CBO: Trump's Obamacare Threat Would Raise Premiums and the Deficit
If President Donald Trump were to follow through on his threats to cut federal cost-sharing subsidies, health insurance premiums for silver plans would soar by an average of 20 percent next year and the federal deficit would rise by $194 billion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.
August 16, 2017
Climbing Cost of Decades-Old Drugs Threatens to Break Medicaid Bank
Skyrocketing price tags for new drugs to treat rare diseases have stoked outrage nationwide. But hundreds of old, commonly used drugs cost the Medicaid program billions of extra dollars in 2016 vs. 2015, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows. Eighty of the drugs — some generic and some still carrying brand names — proved more than two decades old.
August 11, 2017
Medi-Cal Sued for Violating Judges' Orders
Like Medicaid programs in many states that want more budgeting certainty or hope to save money, Medi-Cal is shifting many patients with complex conditions into managed care plans.
August 8, 2017
Health Gap Widens Between Appalachia and Rest of America
Sandy Willhite doesn’t mind driving 45 minutes to the nearest shopping center. But living in Hillsboro, W.Va., became problematic when she had to travel nearly six hours for proper foot treatment.
August 8, 2017
First Statewide Pay-for-Success Program Helps At-Risk Moms
Deona Scott was 24 and in her final semester at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina when she found out she was pregnant. She turned to Medicaid for maternity health coverage and learned about a free program for first-time mothers that could connect her with a nurse to answer questions about pregnancy and caring for her baby.
August 3, 2017
Obamacare Insurers Get New Hope (and Allies)
Health insurers have won powerful allies in a fight over federal subsidies that President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel for millions of people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
August 2, 2017
Why Trump Doesn't Need Congress to Cut Medicaid
After the Senate fell short in its effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration is poised to use its regulatory powers to accomplish what lawmakers could not: shrink Medicaid.
July 28, 2017
States Have Tried Versions of ‘Skinny Repeal.’ It Didn’t Go Well.
Betting that thin is in — and might be the only way forward — Senate Republicans are eyeing a “skinny repeal” that rolls back an unpopular portion of the federal health law. But experts warn that the idea has been tried before, and with little success.
July 27, 2017
Medicaid Proves a Lifeline for Places That Talk Women Out of Abortions
When Taylor Merendo moved to Bloomington, Ind., nearly two years ago, fleeing an abusive marriage, she needed help.
July 25, 2017
How 2 Hospital Giants Hope to Dodge Federal Laws and Create a State-Sanctioned Monopoly
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Looking out a fourth-floor window of his hospital system’s headquarters, Alan Levine can see the Appalachian Mountains that have defined this hardscrabble region for generations.
July 20, 2017
Obamacare Uncertainty Leaves Insurers in Limbo
California’s Obamacare exchange scrubbed its annual rate announcement this week, the latest sign of how the ongoing political drama over the Affordable Care Act is roiling insurance markets nationwide.
July 19, 2017
GOP Failure to Replace Obamacare Was Years in the Making
Seven years of Republican vows to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act came to a crashing halt Tuesday.
July 17, 2017
An Increase in the Uninsured Could Impact the Insured, Too
Much has been written lately about how individuals’ health could suffer if they lose insurance under the health proposals circulating in the U.S. House and Senate
July 12, 2017
Got Medical Debt? Thanks to State AGs, Your Credit Score Could Improve.
For many consumers, an unexpected health care calamity can quickly burgeon into a financial calamity. Just over half of all the debt that appears on credit reports is related to medical expenses, and consumers may find that their credit score gets as banged up as their body.
July 11, 2017
Senate Health Bill Forces States to Pay More for Disabled Children or Cut Their Coverage
Aidan Long is a 13-year-old from Montana who has suffered multiple daily seizures since he was 4. The seizures defy medical cure, and some of them continue for weeks, requiring Aidan to be airlifted to children’s hospitals in Denver or Seattle, said his father, Ben Long. The medical bills to Medicaid and his private insurance have been enormous.
July 10, 2017
The Senate Health Bill's Good and Bad News for Psych Patients
A little-discussed provision in the Senate health care bill is designed to boost the number of hospital beds for psychiatric care, providing a long-sought victory for mental health advocates.
June 27, 2017
CBO: Senate Bill Would Nearly Double the Uninsured Compared to Obamacare
Senate Republicans’ legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act would leave an additional 22 million people without health care coverage over the next decade and cut the federal deficit by $321 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released late Monday.
June 23, 2017
Senate Health Bill Would Shift Medicaid Costs to States and Let Them End ACA Guarantees
Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Thursday unveiled a bill that would dramatically transform the nation’s Medicaid program, make significant changes to the federal health law’s tax credits that help lower-income people buy insurance and allow states to water down changes to some of the law’s coverage guarantees.
June 20, 2017
5 Things Weighed in Secret Health Bill Also Weigh It Down
Anyone following the debate over the “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act knows the 13 Republican senators writing the bill are meeting behind closed doors.
June 12, 2017
Texas' Abstinence-Only Programs Could Be Contributing to Teen Pregnancy Rates
In Texas each year, about 35,000 young women get pregnant before they turn 20. Traditionally, the two variables most commonly associated with high teen birth rates are education and poverty, but a new study, co-authored by Dr. Julie DeCesare, shows that there’s more at play.
June 12, 2017
New Study Shows Minorities Get Ineffective Care From Doctors
Minority patients face a double whammy: Not only are they more likely to miss out on effective medical treatments than white patients, but, according to a new study, they’re also more likely to receive an abundance of ineffective services.
June 9, 2017
California's Aid in Dying Law Turns One, But Not All Doctors Are on Board
For some patients, finding a doctor willing to prescribe life-ending drugs can be difficult
May 26, 2017
What's the Best Way to Enroll People in Medicaid?
Postcards, robocalls and other low-tech outreach tools can be as effective as personalized enrollment assistance at encouraging eligible people to sign up for Medicaid, a new study found.
May 25, 2017
CBO: House Bill Would Leave 23 Million More Uninsured and Destabilize the Market in Some States
The Republican overhaul of the federal health law passed by the House this month would result in slightly lower premiums and slightly fewer uninsured Americans than an earlier proposal.
May 24, 2017
New York Applies Special Pressure to Prescription Drugmakers
New York Medicaid regulators aim to use the threat of imposing increased scrutiny of prescription drugs — such as eyeing their relative effectiveness and their profit margins — to coax additional discounts from drugmakers.
May 17, 2017
The Secret Sauce in Maine's Successful High-Risk Insurance Pool
As the GOP health care bill moves from the U.S. House of Representatives to the Senate, many consumers and lawmakers are especially worried that people with preexisting conditions won’t be able to find affordable health coverage.
May 11, 2017
CMS Gives States Until 2022 to Meet Medicaid Standards of Care
The Trump administration has given states three extra years to carry out plans for helping elderly and disabled people receive Medicaid services without being forced to go into nursing homes.
May 8, 2017
Why Blue States Might Ditch Beloved Obamacare Protections
With limited federal subsidies under the GOP health care bill, experts say states like California and New York would be under pressure to cut costs.
May 5, 2017
5 Things to Watch as the GOP Health Bill Heads to U.S. Senate
After weeks of will-they-or-won’t-they tensions, the House managed to pass its GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act on Thursday by a razor-thin margin. The vote was 217-213.
May 4, 2017
Pseudoscience Fuels Minnesota Measles Outbreak
Health officials in Minnesota are scrambling to contain a measles outbreak that has sickened primarily Somali-American children. Officials have identified 34 cases as of Wednesday, and they’re worried there will be more.
April 28, 2017
If Trump Defunds 'Sanctuary Cities,’ Public Health Could Suffer
Local health officials are bracing for the potential impact of a Trump administration policy that would stop federal funding to jurisdictions that don’t enforce federal immigration laws.
April 26, 2017
Pre-Obamacare, Preexisting Conditions Plagued States and Insurers
For most of his life, Carl Goulden had near-perfect health. He and his wife, Wanda, say that changed 10 years ago. Carl remembered feeling “a lot of pain in the back, tired, fatigue, yellow eyes — a lot of jaundice.”
April 17, 2017
Can We Tax Away the Opioid Crisis?
California lawmakers this month will consider legislation that would impose a tax on prescription opioids such as OxyContin and Norco to raise money for addiction treatment and prevention programs.
April 13, 2017
As Medicaid Expansion Experiences a Revival, New Data Show It Pays Off
Although the GOP-controlled Congress is pledging its continued interest — despite stalls and snags — to dismantle Obamacare, some “red state” legislatures are changing course and showing a newfound interest in embracing the health law’s Medicaid expansion.
April 5, 2017
CMS Chief Recuses Herself From Major Medicaid Decision
Seema Verma, the former health policy consultant now overseeing Medicare and Medicaid for the Trump administration, will not take part in one of her agency’s most anticipated decisions because of a conflict of interest.
April 5, 2017
Instead of Keeping Federal Funds From Abortion Providers, Missouri Rejects Them Altogether
Hospitals in Missouri are grappling with a new state rule that forces them to choose between providing abortions for women in high-risk situations or receiving family planning funds for low-income women.
March 22, 2017
Medicaid Caps in GOP Bill Could Shrink Seniors’ Benefits
Before nursing home patient Carmencita Misa became bedridden, she was a veritable “dancing queen,” says her daughter, Charlotte Altieri.
March 6, 2017
Study: Medicaid Expansion Made It Easier to Get a Doctor's Appointment
More than 14 million adults have enrolled in Medicaid since the health law passed, and that has caused some hand-wringing over whether there would be enough primary care providers to meet the demand. But a study out this week suggests that the newly insured people are generally able to get timely appointments for primary care.
February 28, 2017
Fact-Checking Indiana’s Claims About Its Medicaid Experiment
The federal government approved the experiment, called the Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP 2.0, which is now up for a three-year renewal.
February 23, 2017
Fearing Deportation, Some Immigrants Forego Health Care
Some foreign-born Californians are canceling their Medi-Cal coverage or declining to enroll in the first place, citing fears of a Trump administration crackdown on immigrants.
February 16, 2017
While Congress Stalls, White House Releases Rules Meant to Stabilize Health Insurance Market
While Congress continues to struggle with how to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration today unveiled its first regulation aimed at keeping insurers participating in the individual market in 2018.
February 13, 2017
What Made Obamacare Succeed In Some States (Hint: It’s Not Politics)
Ask anyone about their health care and you are likely to hear about ailments, doctors, maybe costs and insurance hassles.
February 8, 2017
Obama's Drug Czar on Opioids, Trump and Repealing the ACA
The GOP is working to repeal and replace the 2010 health law, known for insuring more than 20 million people. And the change could affect another health concern: the nation’s opioid abuse problem.
February 2, 2017
In Pence's Home State, Republicans Want to Keep Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion
As Congress weighs repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the home state of Vice President Mike Pence Tuesday sought to keep its conservative-style Medicaid expansion under the federal health law.
February 2, 2017
Trump’s Immigration Policy Fuels Fear for Some Young Doctors
With announcements of placements in residencies expected in March, medical education groups and hospitals say they’re unsure how to proceed.
January 25, 2017
Everything You Need to Know About Block Grants, the Heart of GOP’s Medicaid Plans
President Donald Trump’s administration made explicit this weekend its commitment to an old GOP strategy for managing Medicaid, the federal-state insurance plan that covers low-income people — turning control of the program to states and capping what the federal government spends on it each year.
January 17, 2017
GOP Vows to Defund Planned Parenthood. As States Learned, That's Hard.
If “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act is Republicans’ job one, defunding Planned Parenthood is a close second.
January 5, 2017
In Towns That Lost Most Obamacare Insurers, Premiums Are Still Competitive
People in this city had their pick of four health insurers last year when they shopped for policies during the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment.
January 4, 2017
For States Seeking Medicaid Work Requirements, Montana May Be a Model
Montana State Senator Ed Buttrey is a no-nonsense businessman from Great Falls. Like a lot of Republicans, he’s not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, nor its expansion of Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor and disabled.
December 7, 2016
Medicaid Coverage for Addiction Treatment Varies Dramatically by State
When Ashley Hurteau, 32, was arrested in 2015, she faced a list of charges for crimes she committed to finance a drug craving she had struggled with for more than a decade.
November 30, 2016
Price’s Appointment Boosts GOP Plans to Overhaul Medicaid
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services signals that the new administration is all-in on both efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and restructure Medicare and Medicaid.
November 10, 2016
Millions Could Lose Health Care Under Trump Plan
Millions of low-income Americans on Medicaid could lose their health coverage if President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress follow through on GOP proposals to cut spending in the state-federal insurance program.
October 31, 2016
An Idea Borrowed From South Africa: Ordinary Citizens Fill Gaps In Health Care
A New York group seeks to show that a health coach who is also a neighbor can help patients and save money.
October 28, 2016
California Rules About Violence Against Health Workers Could Become a National Model
Workers in California’s hospitals and doctors’ offices may be less likely to get hit, kicked, bitten or grabbed under workplace standards adopted by a state workplace safety board.
October 21, 2016
To Curb Unintended Pregnancy, States Turn to IUDs -- in the Delivery Room
Peggy Wall, a family nurse practitioner at a local community health center, treats many women in their 40s, who already have a family and find themselves confronting an accidental pregnancy.
October 20, 2016
In Oregon, a Test Case for Medicaid Expansion, Results Defy Expectations
Will Medicaid expansion save the country money as people stop using expensive emergency rooms for primary care?
October 14, 2016
States Increase Cost Controls to Manage Medicaid Growth
With a record 73 million people enrolled in Medicaid, most states next year will tighten controls on spending to battle swelling budgets in the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans, according to a report released Thursday.
October 11, 2016
California Taps Marriage Therapists to Fill Mental Health Care Gaps
The staff of Clinica Sierra Vista, which has health centers throughout the Central Valley, screened its mostly low-income patients last year for mental health needs and determined that nearly 30 percent suffered from depression, anxiety or alcoholism.
September 30, 2016
UnitedHealth and University of California Forge Unique Alliance
The nation’s largest health insurer and the University of California Health system are joining forces to create a new health plan option for employers and expand research into patient data.
September 26, 2016
The Never-Ending Debate About Fluoride in Tap Water
Many people take for granted the addition of fluoride into public drinking water systems that aims to prevent tooth decay.
September 13, 2016
In States That Didn't Expand Medicaid, Rural Hospitals Hit Harder
It isn’t news that in rural parts of the country, people have a harder time accessing good health care. But new evidence suggests opposition to a key part of the 2010 health overhaul could be adding to the gap.
September 2, 2016
Why Teen Pregnancies Dropped: More Contraceptives, Not Less Sex
Teen pregnancy is way down. And a study suggests that the reason is increased, and increasingly effective, use of contraceptives.
August 29, 2016
In Boston’s ‘Safe Space,’ Surprising Insights Into Drug Highs
Some arrive on their own, worried about what was really in that bag of heroin. Some are carried in, slumped between two friends.
August 19, 2016
‘Mental Health First Aid’ and Other Steps -- NYC's First Lady on Fixing the System
For Chirlane McCray, New York City’s first lady, mental illness is not an abstract concern.
August 19, 2016
Giving Birth in Georgia Is Too Often a Deadly Event
Georgia enjoys its image as the Empire State of the South, a leader among its Deep South neighbors, the first to have an Olympic city and the first to send a native son to the White House.
August 5, 2016
Why Colorado Wants to Hire Bernie Sanders
Backers of ColoradoCare — the state ballot initiative that would establish universal health care in Colorado — think they have the perfect job for former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
August 1, 2016
Long-Term Care Is an Immediate Problem — for Government
Medicaid has become the safety net for millions of people who find themselves unable to pay for nursing home beds or in-home caregivers. Medicaid was never intended to cover long-term care for everyone. Now it pays for nearly 40 percent of the nation’s long-term care expenses, and the share is growing.
July 22, 2016
Mike Pence’s Health Policy Record Is a Mixed Bag
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is in the spotlight this week as the man Donald Trump has picked to be his running mate.
July 20, 2016
13% Jump in California Health Premiums Could Reverberate Throughout U.S.
California’s Obamacare premiums will jump 13.2 percent on average next year, a sharp increase that is likely to reverberate nationwide in an election year.
July 14, 2016
As Another Obamacare Insurer Falls, the Remaining 7 Go Into Survival Mode
New failures are piling up among the member-run health insurance co-ops carrying out one of the Affordable Care Act’s most idealistic goals, leaving just seven remaining when the health law’s fourth enrollment season starts in the fall.
July 12, 2016
Why So Many Toddlers Are Losing Health Insurance
Many babies born to mothers who are covered by Medicaid are automatically eligible for that coverage during the first year of their lives.
July 6, 2016
Zika Warnings' Unintended Consequence
Enhancing mosquito control. Encouraging safe sex. Advising people to minimize travel to infected areas.
July 5, 2016
For Hepatitis C Patients, States' Lawsuits Pay Off
After legal battles and lobbying efforts, tens of thousands of people with hepatitis C are gaining earlier access to expensive drugs that can cure this condition.
July 5, 2016
The Barriers Keeping Young People Off Obamacare
The Obama administration is making a push to get young adults covered on the health insurance marketplaces, both for their own good and that of the marketplaces, which need healthy people to balance sicker ones in the risk pool.
June 30, 2016
Some States Ease Privacy Concerns for Young Adults Still on Parents' Health Plan
The health law opened the door for millions of young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26. But there’s a downside to remaining on the family plan.
June 20, 2016
Despite Overdose Epidemic, Georgia Caps Number of Opioid Treatment Clinics
Zac Talbott sees the irony of running an opioid treatment program from a former doctor’s office.
June 17, 2016
Where Autism Therapy Is Harder to Get
Like many parents of children with autism, Braulio De La Cruz sought an expensive therapy called applied behavioral analysis — or ABA – when his son Noah Leonardo was diagnosed last year.
This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
June 16, 2016
To Prevent Unplanned Pregnancies, Feds Urge States to Do More
The federal government, which spends billions of dollars each year covering unintended pregnancies, is encouraging states to adopt policies that might boost the number of Medicaid enrollees who use long-acting, reversible contraceptives.
June 13, 2016
As Hospital Chains Grow, So Do Their Prices for Care
As health care consolidation accelerates nationwide, a new study shows that hospital prices in two of California’s largest health systems were 25 percent higher than at other hospitals around the state.
June 9, 2016
The Med School That Mixes Science and Health Policy
Medical students cram a lot of basic science and medicine into their first two years of training. But most learn next to nothing about the intricacies of the health care system they are soon to enter.
June 6, 2016
How Altering Death Certificates Could Aid the Drug Crisis
Dr. James Gill walked through the morgue in Farmington, Connecticut, recently, past the dock where the bodies come in, past the tissue donations area, and stopped outside the autopsy room.
May 18, 2016
New Wellness Program Rules Elicit Mixed Reactions
Employers seeking to get workers to join wellness programs and provide medical information can set financial rewards – or penalties – of up to 30 percent of the cost for an individual in the company’s health insurance plan, according to controversial rules finalized by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Monday.
May 17, 2016
Health Coverage Rates for Lower Income Children Improving
Bolstered by the federal health care law, the number of lower income kids getting health coverage continues to improve, a recent study found.
May 12, 2016
Study: Autism Insurance Mandates Are 'Necessary But Not Sufficient'
Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books requiring health insurers to cover autism treatments.
May 12, 2016
After Years of Modesty, California Health Premiums May Rise More
California’s health insurance exchange estimates that its Obamacare premiums may rise 8 percent on average next year, which would end two consecutive years of more modest 4 percent increases.
May 2, 2016
HHS Extends Medicaid to More Ex-Prisoners
Administration officials moved Thursday to improve low Medicaid enrollment for emerging prisoners, urging states to start signups before release and expanding eligibility to thousands of former inmates in halfway houses near the end of their sentences.
April 11, 2016
California's Unprecedented Move in Regulating Health Plans
Moving into a realm usually reserved for health care regulators, the California health marketplace Thursday unveiled sweeping reforms to its contracts with insurers, seeking to improve the quality of care, curb its cost and increase transparency for consumers.
March 31, 2016
A Crisis With Little Data: States Begin to Count Drug-Dependent Babies
How do fix a problem if you don’t know its size?
March 23, 2016
Hackers Target Hospitals for Ransom
Hackers demanded a ransom from two more Southern California hospitals last week and federal authorities are investigating the case.
March 4, 2016
Boston Brings Safe Spaces for Drug Users to America
A Boston nonprofit plans to soon test a new way of addressing the city’s heroin epidemic. The idea is simple: Starting in March, along a stretch of road that has come to be called Boston’s “Methadone Mile,” the program will open a room with a nurse, some soft chairs and basic life-saving equipment — a place where heroin users can ride out their high, under medical supervision.
February 24, 2016
As Rural Hospitals Struggle, Their Labor and Delivery Units Are Dying Off
A few years ago, when a young woman delivered her baby at Alleghany Memorial Hospital in Sparta, North Carolina, it was in the middle of a Valentine’s Day ice storm and the mountain roads out of town were impassable.
February 22, 2016
The Struggle to Sell Tap Water's Benefits in an Age of Flint
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is making some public health messages harder to get across — namely, in most communities, the tap water is perfectly safe. And it is so much healthier than sugary drinks.
February 18, 2016
In Freddie Gray’s Neighborhood, the Best Medical Care Is Close But Elusive
The Baltimore health system put Robert Peace back together after a car crash shattered his pelvis. Then it nearly killed him, he says.
February 17, 2016
Federal Funding Ban on Needle Exchanges Lifted
At precisely 8:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, the doors to the needle exchange on Skid Row open and the daily procession of injection drug users begins.
February 5, 2016
2016 Obamacare Enrollment Exceeds Last Year's by 1 Million
About 12.7 million Americans enrolled in private health insurance through the federal and state marketplaces for 2016, the Obama administration said Thursday.
January 29, 2016
Feds Clarify Confusion Over Health Care After an Out-of-State Move
After the open enrollment period ends on Sunday for buying coverage on the health insurance marketplaces, people can generally sign up for or switch marketplace plans only if they have certain major life changes, such as losing their on-the-job coverage or getting married. Following insurance industry criticism, last week the federal government said it will scrutinize people’s applications for such “special enrollment periods” more closely, including one of the most commonly cited reasons — relocating to a new state.
January 22, 2016
How States Have Made It Easier to Sign Up for Medicaid
Getting on Medicaid has never been so easy.
January 14, 2016
Obama's New Plan to Convince Holdout States to Expand Medicaid
With full federal funding for expanding Medicaid set to expire at the end this year, President Barack Obama is proposing to indefinitely extend the health law provision for any of the 19 states that have not yet adopted the enhanced eligibility.
January 6, 2016
Feds Fund Effort to Connect Medical and Social Services
The federal government has announced a $157 million project to help hospitals and doctors link Medicare and Medicaid patients to needed social services that sometimes have a bigger impact on their health than medical interventions.
December 21, 2015
New Kaiser Permanente Med School Part of a Growing Trend
Thursday’s announcement by Kaiser Permanente that it plans to open its own medical school in Southern California has attracted a lot of attention in the health care community.
December 18, 2015
Feds Investigate Discrimination Allegations in California's Medicaid Program
A coalition of civil rights advocates Tuesday called for a federal investigation of California’s Medicaid program, alleging that it discriminates against millions of low-income Latinos by denying them equal access to health care.
December 17, 2015
'Multi-State' Health Plans Fail to Deliver Promises
A health law insurance program that was expected to boost consumer choice and competition on the marketplaces has slipped off course and is so far failing to meet expectations.
December 11, 2015
California Leads Rethinking of Addiction Treatment for the Poor
Through what’s known as a drug waiver, state officials will have new spending flexibility as they try to improve outcomes and reduce social and financial costs of people with substance abuse disorders.
December 11, 2015
What Cities Have the Worst STD Problems? LMGTFY
Researchers can mine Google data to identify searched phrases that spiked during previous upticks in a particular disease. Then, they measure the frequency of those searches in real time to estimate the number of emerging cases.
December 10, 2015
Obama Officials Testify on the State of State-Run Health Exchanges
State insurance exchanges are healthy financially even without the federal funding that ran out this year, a top Obama administration official told a House subcommittee Tuesday.
December 8, 2015
The County Using Churches to Improve Mental Health Care
Because of the importance of churches in African-American communities, Alameda County has focused specifically on churches, inviting religious leaders to discussions about mental health and funding workshops to help congregants reach out to one another.
December 3, 2015
What Happens If Kentucky Ends Its State-Run Obamacare Exchange?
Gov.-elect Matt Bevin’s plan to end Kynect has brought a strong rebuke from Obamacare advocates and the outgoing governor, but it’s also revived questions about whether the states or the federal government are best positioned to run the marketplaces.
December 2, 2015
Unreliable Online Tools Make Medical Comparison Shopping a Problem
Several states mandate public reporting of price information, but online cost estimators offered through insurance company are often inaccurate.
December 1, 2015
Why Colorado's Obamacare Co-Op Is Falling, and Connecticut's Isn't
Many co-op plans were priced low, and customers poured in. But these new customers had high health costs, so the co-ops had to start paying a lot of bills. The math didn’t add up.
November 30, 2015
Medicaid Managed Care Leaves $1 Billion Hole in California Budget
California lawmakers are staring down a $1.1 billion hole in next year’s health budget after failing to come up with a way to replace the state’s “managed care organization tax” on health insurance plans that serve Medi-Cal managed care recipients.
November 23, 2015
After California, Assisted Suicide Group Plans for More State Fights
Since Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s end-of-life options bill last month, a new chapter is starting for Compassion & Choices, a Denver-based nonprofit that led the campaign for the measure and has pushed for such laws for nearly 19 years. California is the fifth state, and largest by far, to allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to patients who want to end their lives in their last stages of terminal illnesses.
November 23, 2015
Half of Hepatitis C Drug Requests Are Denied by Medicaid
Researches found insurers denied 16 percent of prescriptions for expensive drugs like Sovaldi, Harvoni and Viekira Pak, the drugs. The proportion of Medicaid denials, however, was 46 percent.
November 17, 2015
Obamacare's Most Popular Plans Offer Poor HIV Drug Coverage
In most states, consumers with HIV or AIDS who buy silver-level plans on the insurance marketplaces find limited coverage of common drug regimens they may need and high out-of-pocket costs, according to a new analysis.
November 13, 2015
Some Health Providers Now Sell Insurance Too
In 2014, 13 percent of health care systems in the United States offered plans that covered 18 million members, or about 8 percent of all people with insurance. Most of the people covered by provider-led plans are in Medicaid managed care or Medicare Advantage plans.
November 11, 2015
In California, Medicaid's Cancer Care Lags Behind Other Plans
Cancer patients insured by California’s health plan for low-income people are less likely to get recommended treatment and also have lower survival rates than patients with other types of insurance, according to a new study by University of California-Davis researchers.
November 9, 2015
Why Many States Now Have Stem Cell Research Programs
Three after George W. Bush restricted the use of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, California started its own multi-billion dollar stem cell program. Today at least seven states offer stem cell research funding or other incentives to local scientists and industry.
November 6, 2015
Small Businesses Don't Want SHOP Exchange for Health Insurance
About 85,000 people, from 11,000 small businesses, have coverage through the online marketplace known as the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP. That’s less than 1 percent of people with coverage in the U.S.
November 3, 2015
How Texas Is Learning to Like Obamacare
Many Texas Republicans still consider the Affordable Care Act to be political kryptonite, but at the local level policymakers are coming around.
November 2, 2015
Visiting Prisons and Fishing Docks to Reach the Uninsured
On fishing piers in Maine, inside public libraries in rural Iowa and at insurer-run retail stores in Minnesota, the hunt for uninsured Americans will reignite Sunday when Obamacare’s third open enrollment season starts.
October 21, 2015
Many States Still Don't Know How to Regulate Medical Marijuana
Years after voters made medical marijuana legal, Montana and some other states struggle to regulate it.
October 21, 2015
How North Carolina Is Trying To Reshape Medicaid
The state, which has not expanded Medicaid under the health law, struggled with huge Medicaid cost overruns from 2010 through 2013. That sent lawmakers looking for a better way to manage it, even though a signature part of the program has won national awards for quality and cost.
October 19, 2015
New York Takes First Action With New Surprise Medical Bills Law
The new law aims to reduce the number of consumers who get surprise bills when they unknowingly see providers who are not part of their insurance plan networks.
October 19, 2015
Medicaid Spending Soars, Mostly in Expansion States
Medicaid spending soared nearly 14 percent last year—its biggest annual increase in at least two decades—as a result of millions of newly eligible low-income enrollees signing up under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
October 14, 2015
To Help Female Prisoners Lose Weight, Some Turn to Spin Classes
In 2011, biking advocates from the non-profit group Gearing Up persuaded prison administrators to let them bring in bikes to teach indoor cycling to female inmates, who tend to gain more weight in prison than men.
October 9, 2015
Study: Health Care Costs More in Areas Where Large Doctor Groups Dominate
Although larger practices have the resources to provide benefits to patients through better care coordination or access to new technologies, these practices’ greater market power may enable them to charge higher prices.
October 6, 2015
Telemedicine Is Expanding, But No One Knows If It Saves Money
The service is useful for patients in rural areas, but right now the financial benefits are just theoretical.
October 6, 2015
Chronically Ill Pay More With Obamacare Plans Than Employer Coverage
Chronically ill people enrolled in individual health plans sold on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges pay on average twice as much out-of-pocket for prescription drugs each year than people covered through their workplace, according to a study published Monday in the Health Affairs journal.
October 5, 2015
Medicaid's Newly Insured Treasure Coverage, Despite Problems
Problems have plagued the roll out of Obamacare. Three million more people than expected have signed up for Medicaid in California. Other states have also witnessed surges far beyond initial projections, including Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and Washington State.
September 29, 2015
Under New Law, D.C. Women Can Get a Year’s Worth of Contraceptives at Once
Prescriptions for birth control pills typically have to be renewed every 30 or 90 days, potentially resulting in women missing scheduled pills. The yearlong provision will begin in 2017.
September 23, 2015
New Website Reveals Cost of California Medical Procedures
The site provides information on quality for five common conditions or procedures: childbirth, hip and knee replacement, colon cancer screening, diabetes, and back pain. And it gives cost information — by county for 100 procedures, ranging from treating a broken ankle to cancer chemotherapy.
September 23, 2015
Employers Shift More Health Costs to Workers, Survey Finds
Premiums for job-based medical insurance rose moderately — 4 percent in 2015 — but employers continued to shift in expenses to workers, according to a new survey.
September 16, 2015
Older Adults Aren't Getting Their Vaccines
Vaccination rates for children have steadily risen well over 90 percent the past few years, but the rates for Americans older than 60 getting flu, pneumonia, tetanus or shingles shots – the four most used vaccines among the elderly ‑- have stayed stubbornly flat.
September 9, 2015
Many Health Programs at Risk of Losing Crucial Funds, Not Just Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood is not the only health program the GOP is targeting. Dozens of other health programs were set for cuts as well.
September 8, 2015
Massachusetts, a Leader in Cost Control, Sees Health Spending Rise Too Much
Massachusetts spent $632 million more on health care last year than it aimed to.
September 8, 2015
HHS Unveils Rules to Ban Discrimination of Transgender Patients
The Obama administration issued a sweeping proposal Thursday to bolster civil rights protections in health care, barring medical providers and insurers from discriminating based on gender, whether in treatments or access to facilities or services.
September 4, 2015
How Rural Texas Is Trying to Lure Mental Health Providers
Of the 254 counties in Texas, 185 have no psychiatrist. How do you persuade students to become psychiatrists, social workers and psychologists, and then be willing to work in rural areas?
September 1, 2015
Amid Closing Abortion Clinics, Ohio Opens a New One
Dr. David Burkons graduated from medical school and began practicing obstetrics and gynecology in 1973 – the same year of the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion decision in Roe v. Wade.
August 31, 2015
Private Money Saves Birth Control Program in Colorado
A Colorado birth control program that has cut unintended pregnancies and abortions by nearly half since 2009 will stay alive for at least one more year thanks to $2 million in donations from private foundations.
August 24, 2015
Why 2 Million People Aren't Taking Advantage of Insurance Subsidies
More than 2 million people with coverage on the health insurance exchanges may be missing out on subsidies that could lower their deductibles, copayments and maximum out-of-pocket spending limits, according to a new analysis by Avalere Health.
August 18, 2015
Can California Treat All Children With Severe Illnesses Through Medi-Cal?
Beginning next year, state officials want to fold a $2 billion program for children with severe illnesses or birth defects in Medi-Cal managed care. But many families and children’s advocates are strenuously opposed.
August 17, 2015
The Difficult Task of Determining Real Medical Costs
Even in Massachusetts, where a 2012 health care cost control law requires that hospitals and doctors provide patients with the price of a test, exam or treatment within two business days of the request, it's still pretty hard to figure out how much a visit is going to cost patients.
August 14, 2015
States Find It Difficult to Provide Sufficient Mental Health Care
California has taken the most proactive stance in the nation in enforcing laws to ensure people with mental illnesses have fair and timely access to care. But even there, it’s proving difficult to ensure mental patients truly have equal access to treatment.
August 14, 2015
Bush and Walker Claim to Have Defunded Planned Parenthood, But Did They Really?
The undercover videos purporting to show officials of Planned Parenthood bargaining over the sale of fetal tissue have made the promise to defund the organization one of the most popular refrains on the Republican presidential campaign trail.
August 10, 2015
Study Challenges Assumptions About Hospital 'Frequent Fliers'
Super-utilizers are the frequent fliers of the health care system, whose serious illnesses send them to the hospital multiple times every year and cost the system hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
July 28, 2015
California Court Refuses to Rule on Assisted Suicide
Christy O’Donnell may not get the death she had hoped for — one that right-to-die advocates say she deserves.
July 23, 2015
Feds Push States to Negotiate Lower Obamacare Rates
Some analysts who have looked at health insurers’ proposed premiums for next year predict major increases for policies sold on state and federal health exchanges. Others say it’s too soon to tell.
July 16, 2015
California's New Method of Making Birth Control Easier to Get Is Catching On
California and Oregon will be the first states in the nation to allow women to get birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives directly from their pharmacists – without a doctor’s prescription.
July 13, 2015
Maryland Extends In Vitro Coverage Mandate to Gay Couples
Maryland required insurers to cover in vitro fertilization, but it was generally difficult for same-sex couples to get coverage for such treatment.
July 10, 2015
California Shelves Doctor-Assisted Suicide Bill
Backers of a bill that would have allowed terminally ill Californians to get lethal prescriptions to end their lives shelved the legislation Tuesday morning because they lacked the votes to move it out of a key committee.
July 8, 2015
Health Advocates in California Support Coverage of Children in State Illegally
The coverage under Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, is expected to result in more preventive care and better long-term health for an estimated 170,000 children who have long relied on safety-net clinics and emergency rooms. Now advocates are calling on the state to cover adults, too.
June 25, 2015
In a First, California Caps What Patients Pay for Pricey Drugs
Expensive specialty medicines used to treat cancer and chronic illnesses have forced some very ill Americans to choose between getting proper treatment and paying their rent.
June 25, 2015
When Do Workplace Wellness Plans Become Coercive?
Christine White pays $300 a year more for her health care because she refused to join her former employer’s wellness program, which would have required that she fill out a health questionnaire and join activities like Weight Watchers.
June 10, 2015
HHS Says It’s Up to States, Congress, to Help Consumers If Court Strikes Down Subsidies
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said the administration will work with states to help mitigate the consequences for consumers if the Supreme Court ruled against federal subsidies.
June 10, 2015
Which Hospitals Overcharge the Most?
The highest-charging U.S. hospitals are for-profits institutions concentrated in Florida.
June 4, 2015
More People Going to Health Clinics Since Obamacare Started
Many expected the insurance exchange, or marketplace, established under the Affordable Care Act would reduce the number of uninsured patients the clinic sees. The opposite happened.
June 3, 2015
Why Is Texas Limiting Telemedicine?
New rules from the Texas Medical Board could make it a lot harder for people to get antibiotics through telemedicine. In response to the board’s restrictions, Teladoc, the largest telemedicine provider in the U.S., has filed a lawsuit that accuses the medical board of artificially limiting supply and increasing prices.
May 26, 2015
Assisted Suicide Still Happens Where It's Illegal
Physician-assisted suicide is only legal in five states. But it still happens in the other 45 states.
May 18, 2015
Why It's So Hard to Find a Good Nursing Home in Texas
Texas has the highest percentage of one-and two-star facilities in the country: 51 percent of its nursing homes are rated “below average,” or “much below average.” Louisiana is close behind at 49 percent, with Oklahoma, Georgia and West Virginia tying for third at 46 percent.
May 12, 2015
Obama Clarifies What Birth Control Insurers Must Cover 100%
Free means free.
May 8, 2015
Study Finds Patients Not Actually Hurt When Local Hospitals Close
Changes in death rates of people on Medicare — both those who had been in the hospital and among the broader populace — were no different than those for people in similar places where no hospital had closed.
May 7, 2015
Florida Governor's Meeting in D.C. Yields No Change
Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s high-stakes visit to Washington Wednesday to persuade the Obama administration to keep the federal government’s $1 billion in annual funding for hospital care of the poor produced no breakthrough.
May 5, 2015
Why Not Just Pay Medicaid Enrollees to Get Healthier?
Among the biggest obstacles is simply getting the word out to enrollees that they can earn benefits if they lose weight or quit smoking.
May 1, 2015
Montana Governor Signs Medicaid Expansion Law
Backers of Medicaid expansion celebrated in Helena Wednesday as Gov. Steve Bullock signed the bill extending the health coverage to an estimated 45,000 more Montanans.
April 14, 2015
Why Urban Hospitals Are Leaving Cities for Fancy Suburbs
By moving to wealthier areas, hospitals can reduce the percent of uninsured and lower-paying Medicaid patients, while increasing the proportion of privately insured patients.
April 9, 2015
Houston Now Has Doctors to Help 911 Callers
The organization brought doctors on because it was getting a lot of calls that weren't emergencies.
April 6, 2015
Medicaid Expansion Causes 40% Drop in Cleveland Clinic Charity Cases
The hospital also announced that 2014 was an “extraordinary” financial year, with operating income up 60 percent.
April 1, 2015
The Big Change Coming to Mental Health
A new National Institute of Mental Health research plan could change how mental illness is diagnosed and treated.
March 25, 2015
Even Male Nurses Earn More Than Female Colleagues
Even after controlling for age, race, marital status and children in the home, males in nursing out-earned females by nearly $3,900 in hospitals.
March 20, 2015
Most Americans Unaware Obamacare Subsidies Are At Risk
Despite months of news coverage, most people say they have heard little or nothing about a Supreme Court case that could eliminate subsidies helping millions of Americans afford coverage under the federal health law, according to a poll released Thursday.
March 18, 2015
Rural Hospitals Face Tough New Challenges Due to ACA
Declining federal reimbursements for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act are the principal reason for closures. The law reduced payments to hospitals for the uninsured on the assumption that states would expand their Medicaid programs.
March 17, 2015
It Helps a Lot When Patients Make Decisions About Their Treatment
In many hospitals and clinics around the country, oncologists and surgeons simply tell cancer patients what treatments they should have, or at least give them strong recommendations. But in some hospitals doctors and patients are working together to make choices about care.
March 16, 2015
Credit Agencies Agree to Be More Flexible About Medical Debt
Too many consumers have learned the hard way that their credit rating can be tarnished by medical bills they may not owe or when disputes delay insurer payment.
March 13, 2015
California Still Has 3 Million Uninsured People
Advocates say the state's counties need to shore up care for their remaining uninsured residents.
March 11, 2015
Republicans Kill Montana Governor’s Medicaid Expansion Plan
Obamacare’s tenuous toehold in Montana appears to be growing no firmer. Despite a hearing crowded with supporters of the Democratic governor’s Medicaid expansion bill, Republican legislators have dealt the measure a likely death blow.
March 10, 2015
Obamacare Insurers Must Start Updating Doctor Directories
Starting next year, the federal government will require health insurers to give millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans or in policies sold in the federally run health exchange up-to-date details about which doctors are in their plans and taking new patients.
March 9, 2015
New Federal Rule Extends Medical Leave Rights to Same-Sex Couples in All States
Starting March 27, legally married same-sex couples will be able to take unpaid time off to care for a spouse or sick family members even if they live in a state that doesn’t recognize their marriage.
March 2, 2015
More Than 1 in 4 Foster Kids Miss Required Checkups
Twenty-nine percent of children taken from their families and placed in foster care failed to receive at least one required medical checkup, the Health and Human Services Department Office of the Inspector General said in a report out today.
February 19, 2015
Dental Coverage Now Available to Many on Medicaid, but It's Still Hard to See a Dentist
Many states adding dental coverage are struggling to meet the high demand for services.
February 17, 2015
Government Toughens Grading System for Nursing Homes
Starting immediately, the federal government is making it harder for nursing homes to get top grades on a public report card, in part by increasing scrutiny of their use of anti-psychotic drugs and raising the bar on an array of quality measures.
February 16, 2015
Real Prices for 70 Health Care Procedures Now Posted Online
Guroo.com shows the average local cost for many common diagnoses and medical tests in most states. That’s the real cost — not “charges” that often get marked down — based on a giant database of what insurance companies pay.
February 10, 2015
Health Experts Propose Real Ideas to Improve Obamacare
Beyond "repeal and replace," people at the National Health Policy Conference pitched improvements to the Affordable Care Act.
February 6, 2015
Measles Outbreak Sparks Bid to Eliminate Vaccine Exemption
State lawmakers in California introduced legislation Wednesday that would require children to be fully vaccinated before going to school, a response to a measles outbreak that started in Southern California and has reached 107 cases in 14 states.
February 3, 2015
Suprisingly, Florida Has a Lot of Obamacare Signups
Why Florida is number one in ACA enrollment despite GOP opposition.
February 2, 2015
California Launches Campaign to Curb E-Cigarette Smoking
As the popularity of electronic cigarettes continues to grow, California’s top public health official warned residents Wednesday about their dangers and announced a new campaign to reduce their use.
January 26, 2015
California Court-Ordered to Make Timely Decisions on Medicaid Coverage
Medi-Cal applicants who have been waiting for more than 45 days can receive temporary health benefits while officials determine eligibility for the public insurance program, a state Superior Court judge ruled this week.
January 20, 2015
Health Premiums Most Expensive in Rural Areas
In health insurance prices, as in the weather, Alaska and the Sun Belt are extremes. This year Alaska is the most expensive health insurance market for people who do not get coverage through their employers, while Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson, Ariz., are among the very cheapest.
January 14, 2015
How a Health Insurance Co-Op Collapsed in Iowa
The Affordable Care Act set aside funding for health care co-ops, to enable the organizations to compete in places where there aren’t many insurers. CoOportunity Health was the second largest co-op in the country in terms of membership.
January 8, 2015
As Caregiving Shifts to the Home, Scrutiny Is Lacking
Yolanda Farrell lay mostly paralyzed in a nursing home, unable to feed or dress herself, when her homeless daughter persuaded her to move out.
December 4, 2014
Florida May Get Medicaid Expansion, Just by Calling it Something Else
The plan, called A Healthy Florida Works, offers an alternative to the ACA model while proposing a politically viable path for Florida’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives to extend coverage to more residents.
December 3, 2014
Wellness Programs Under Attack
Do it or else. Increasingly, that’s the approach taken by employers who are offering financial incentives for workers to take part in wellness programs that incorporate screenings that measure blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index, among other things.
December 2, 2014
ACA Would Likely Unravel If Supreme Court Strikes Federal Exchange Subsidies
Legal scholars say the decision could deal a potentially lethal blow to the law by undermining the government-run insurance marketplaces that are its backbone, as well as the mandate requiring most Americans to carry coverage.
December 2, 2014
Increased Competition Helps Keep Premiums Down in Federal Health Exchange
A surge in health insurer competition appears to be helping restrain premium increases in hundreds of counties next year, with prices dropping in many places where newcomers are offering the least expensive plans, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of federal premium records.
November 20, 2014
California’s Managed Care Program for Elderly Poor Doesn't Work so Well
Low-income old people are experiencing confusion and frustration after the state tried to move almost 500,000 seniors and disabled people automatically into managed care.
November 20, 2014
Obesity-Counseling Benefit in Medicare Mostly Ignored
Less than 1 percent of the programs 50 million beneficiaries have used the benefit so far. Experts blame the government’s failure to promote the program, rules that limit where and when patients can go for counseling as well as the low fees for providers.
November 17, 2014
Insurance Exchanges Launch with Few Glitches
A Los Angeles furniture store worker who had never had health insurance enrolled in a plan for $75 a month that will cover both him and his son.
November 14, 2014
Multi-State Companies Face Problems with Small Business Exchanges
Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, is scheduled to go live Nov. 15. But SHOP plans will be organized by state — posing an additional challenge to small employers with workers who live or work in different states.
November 12, 2014
The Only Red State to Launch Its Own Health Exchange
Idaho will be one of a dozen states, along with Washington, D.C., to run its own online marketplace this year — and the only one whose state government is completely controlled by Republicans.
November 6, 2014
How Much Does That Health Care Procedure Really Cost?
Thanks to a law enacted in October, Massachusetts health insurers have to make all their prices public – in advance.
October 30, 2014
Why Obamacare Is Failing in Mississippi
In the country’s unhealthiest state, the disaster of the Affordable Care Act is a group effort.
October 30, 2014
The Elections Where Soda Is One of the Biggest Issues
Now, the soda industry is going to war in a pair of election battles in San Francisco and Berkeley, two of the most liberal cities in the U.S.
October 28, 2014
Reno Finds Medicaid Expansion Is Easier Said Than Done
Residents of the Nevada city find that it can take two months to get a doctor’s appointment at a local community health center, or an all-day wait.
October 22, 2014
Uninsured Unaware of Obamacare's Enrollment Period and Benefits
Almost nine of 10 uninsured Americans – the group most likely to benefit — don’t know that the law’s second open enrollment period begins Nov. 15, according to a poll released Tuesday.
October 21, 2014
Obamacare Signups Lower in Rural Areas
Missouri sees urban, rural divide in heath care coverage.
October 17, 2014
Poll Reveals Public's Misconceptions About Ebola
A new survey finds the public has a lot to learn about how the Ebola virus is transmitted, which could help explain the growing fears of the disease.
October 16, 2014
California Releases ‘Report Cards’ on Health Insurance Options
This year, the state aggregated claims and electronic medical record data and patient satisfaction surveys.
October 16, 2014
Even with Insurance, Many Still Pay a Lot for Prescriptions
Some patients with health insurance are struggling to pay for prescription drugs for conditions such as cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis or HIV/AIDS, as insurers and employers shift more of the cost of high-priced pharmaceuticals to the patients who take them.
October 15, 2014
Many States Boost Medicaid Benefits for Recipients and Providers
With an improving fiscal climate, many states are increasing benefits for Medicaid recipients and paying their providers more.
October 9, 2014
New and Improved HealthCare.Gov Unveiled
Consumers using the federal healthcare.gov website when open enrollment begins next month should expect a faster website with a shorter application form and features making it easier to use on mobile devices, Obama administration officials said Wednesday.
October 8, 2014
Medicare Patients Often Pay More at Rural Hospitals
An investigation by the HHS inspector general says beneficiaries getting the treatments at “critical access” hospitals pay between two and six times more than those at other hospitals.
October 7, 2014
Round 2 of Obamacare Enrollment Will Be Shorter and Harder
As states gear up for round two of Obamacare enrollment next month, they have their sights set on people like Miles Alva.
September 30, 2014
Many Rural Hospitals Don't Have to Meet ACA Quality Standards
A quarter of the nation's hospitals are exempt from penalties, quality bonuses and other payment reforms.
September 30, 2014
Obamacare Deadline Hits for Immigrants to Prove Legal Status
Thousands of people in California are facing a Sept. 30 deadline to prove they are in the country legally, as required to receive coverage through insurance exchanges. It's not easy to do.
September 25, 2014
Hospitals in Expansion States See Biggest Savings
Hospitals are projected to save $5.7 billion this year as previously uninsured patients gain coverage through the 2010 health care law, the Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.
September 23, 2014
People in the New York Region Less Likely to Die at Home
Is it because the area simply has more hospitals than needed?
September 22, 2014
Why 1 Insurer Controls the Fate of Obamacare Fate in 2 States
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield totally dominates the insurance marketplace in two surprising states.
September 22, 2014
Medicaid Must Cover Autism Care for Kids, but What About Adults?
It’s getting easier for parents of young children with autism to get insurers to cover a pricey treatment called applied behavioral analysis. Once kids turn 21, however, it’s a different ballgame entirely.
September 17, 2014
State Health Mandates Get Murky
To discourage states from passing mandates that go beyond essential health benefits requirements, the law requires states, not insurers, to cover the cost of mandates passed after 2011 that apply to individual and small group plans sold on or off the state health insurance marketplaces. If a mandate increases a plan’s premium, states will be on the hook for the additional premium cost that’s attributable to the mandate.
September 15, 2014
Study Shows How Obamacare Has Impacted Children's Uninsured Rate
The uninsured rate for kids under age 18 hasn’t budged under the health law, according to a new study, even though they’re subject to the law’s requirement to have insurance just as their parents and older siblings are. Many of those children are likely eligible for coverage under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
September 15, 2014
California Takes the Lead on Autism Coverage
Starting Monday, September 15,thousands of children from low-income families who are on the autism spectrum will be eligible for behavioral therapy under Medi-Cal, the state’s health plan for the poor.
September 10, 2014
Nonprofits Get Millions to Help Boost Obamacare Enrollment
Two Planned Parenthood chapters, two United Way organizations, a food bank association and a Catholic hospital system are among 90 nonprofit groups that will receive a total of $60 million to help people sign up for health insurance, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today.
September 8, 2014
Obamacare Premiums to Drop Slightly in 16 Cities
In preliminary but encouraging news for consumers and taxpayers, insurance filings show that average premiums will decline slightly next year in 16 major cities for a benchmark Obamacare plan.
September 5, 2014
For Emergency Care, Sometimes a Station Wagon Works as Well as an Ambulance
There's nothing like an ambulance when you really need one, but they're expensive, and a lot of people who call an ambulance could be better served with a different, cheaper kind of care.
September 4, 2014
Many States Are Expanding Health Coverage. Maine Is Contracting It.
Gov. Paul LePage’s decision to shrink Medicaid instead of expanding it was a radical departure from a decade-long effort to cover more people in the rural state.
September 4, 2014
U.S. Health Spending Expected to Increase Modestly
National health spending will increase modestly over the next decade, propelled in part by the gradual rebound of the U.S. economy and the growing ranks of Americans who became insured under the health law, government actuaries projected Wednesday.
September 3, 2014
Massachusetts' Victory in Health Costs May Be Short-Lived
Two years ago, Massachusetts set what was considered an ambitious goal: The state would not let that persistent monster, rising health care costs, increase faster than the economy as a whole. Today, the results of the first full year are out and there’s reason to for many to celebrate.
September 2, 2014
Why Some States Are Charging Taxpayers to Pay Health Insurance Companies
States are using taxes to help pay Obamacare's tax on insurers.
August 27, 2014
States Ordered to Cover Autism Services under Medicaid
In July, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that comprehensive autism services must be covered for children under all state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program plans, another federal-state program that provide health coverage to lower-income children.
August 18, 2014
Hospitals Reconsider Charity for Uninsured
As more Americans gain insurance under the federal health law, hospitals are rethinking their charity programs, with some scaling back help for those who could have signed up for coverage but didn’t.
August 7, 2014
Many Free Clinics Becoming Medicaid Providers
Obamacare an creates upheaval at free clinics, now that people have insurance options.
August 6, 2014
Medicaid Expansion Is Working in Cleveland
A city hospital created its own Medicaid program for residents.
August 5, 2014
Death Rate in a Region Rises If ER Departments Close
A new study indicates that emergency department closures raise death rates at nearby hospitals.
July 31, 2014
Just 6 States Will Fund Medicaid Pay Raises for Doctors
The other 42 states will let the Medicaid pay rates revert back to their 2012 levels. The pay raise was supposed to allow low-income people enrolling in the expanding insurance program to have access to a physician.
July 31, 2014
California Might Have Bilingual Prescription Labels Soon
Many patients don’t understand the instructions on the label on their prescriptions. The California’s Board of Pharmacy will discuss new regulations that would require pharmacies in California to provide translated labels on prescription drug bottles.
July 29, 2014
Moving Poor Children to Obamacare Exchanges Would Be Very Expensive
A study indicates that moving children from CHIP to ACA Exchange plans would increase costs, sometimes 10-fold.
July 25, 2014
Will Legal Decisions About Obamacare Matter for Midterm Elections?
Political analysts say the new health law court decisions would have only a limited political impact.
July 24, 2014
Medicaid Enrollment Delays in Tennessee Cause Advocacy Groups to Sue
Three groups filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday accusing Tennessee officials of depriving thousands of people of Medicaid coverage “to score political points.”
July 22, 2014
Are Recertification Rules for Doctors Useful?
Many specialists object to recertification rules they call a waste of time.
July 21, 2014
How Texas Lawmakers Closed Abortion Clinics
Half of Texas abortion clinics will close due to state law.
July 16, 2014
How California Plans to Cut Its Medicaid Backlog
In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday, the California Department of Health Care Services said that it had reduced its application backlog to 600,000 by the start of this month.
July 15, 2014
Why Kentucky's Giving Nurse Practitioners More Authority
As more Americans get insurance, there may be shortages of primary care doctors, so states are getting creative.
July 11, 2014
Deadline Nearing for 6 States to Fix Medicaid Backlogs
Tired of waiting for states to reduce their backlogs of Medicaid applications, the Obama administration has given six states until Monday to submit plans to resolve issues that have prevented more than 1 million low-income or disabled people from getting health coverage.
July 8, 2014
How Tennessee Keeps Health Costs Low
In unhealthy eastern Tennessee, limited patient options bring some of the country’s cheapest premiums.
July 7, 2014
Florida Creates a Special Health Plan for the Mentally Ill
The state will shift its Medicaid mental health strategy to coordinate physical and mental health care for those enrolled in Medicaid.
July 2, 2014
New Hampshire's Plan to Subsidize More Employer Health Care Plans
Observers say this represents a "uniquely New Hampshire approach" to health care expansion.
July 1, 2014
Why New Health Insurance Carriers Are Entering the Market
States are seeing new insurers, attracted by the exchanges, offering their policies.
July 1, 2014
Hobby Lobby Ruling 'Doesn't Supercede State Law'
More than half the states have “contraceptive equity” laws on the books that require most employers whose health insurance covers prescription drugs to also cover FDA-approved contraceptives as part of that package.
June 30, 2014
Climate Change Will Kill People
Experts say American medical care needs to be ready for global warming.
June 25, 2014
Ohio's Measles Outbreak Prompts Amish to Get Vaccinated
The largest outbreak of measles in recent U.S. history has spread quickly among the largely unvaccinated Amish communities in the center of the state.
June 25, 2014
Connecticut Health Insurance Decision Could Reduce Coverage for Autism
Advocates worry the state's decision could chip away at hard-won coverage gains for mental health conditions.
June 17, 2014
Supreme Court: Groups Can Sue over Campaign Lies
A group challenging an Ohio election law that makes it a crime to make “false statements” about a candidate’s record during a campaign has standing to challenge the constitutionality of that law, according to today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision.
June 12, 2014
Michigan to Offer Better Medicaid to Enrollees for Getting Healthier
Michigan to offer Medicaid recipients lower premiums and cost sharing if they take "personal responsibility" and do a health risk assessment with their doctor every year and to commit to improve their health.
June 9, 2014
Despite Medicaid Expansion, 1.7 Million Still Waiting for Health-Care Decisions
Some Americans have been stuck in limbo for as long as eight months, according to officials in 15 large states.
June 5, 2014
Medicaid Enrollment Surged in April
Medicaid enrollment surged by more than 1 million people in April, bringing the total growth in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor since September to about 6 million, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
June 4, 2014
It's Very Difficult for Patients to Compare Hospital Prices
The sticker price for the 100 most common treatments and procedures for Medicare inpatients in 2011 varied dramatically among hospitals across the country, and even across towns.
June 3, 2014
Missouri Has a Declining Medicaid Caseload. Is That a Good Thing?
Missouri is seeing a bigger decline in its Medicaid rolls than nearly any other state, a ranking that the administration of Gov. Jay Nixon attributes to people getting jobs. Critics contend the state is just making it harder for people to enroll or renew their coverage.
May 30, 2014
What Should Georgia Do with Those Closed, Rural Hospitals?
Georgia looks to reopen some former hospitals as freestanding emergency departments.
May 21, 2014
California Doctors Are Getting Rich from Medicare
Doctors in the state are among those charging Medicare the most for office visits.
May 16, 2014
Pennsylvania's Medicaid Expansion Won't Be Easy
The state's expansion plan would require 723 new workers.
May 14, 2014
The 'Defined Contribution' Part of Employer-Provided Health Insurance: This Is Where It Gets Complicated
Could employers decide to drop their health plans and just replace them with a “defined contribution” for employees?
May 13, 2014
Insurers and D.C. Council Fight over Health Exchange
Washington, D.C.'s health insurance tax plan triggers a pushback from insurance companies.
May 12, 2014
Mental Health Playing a Bigger Part in Conn. Policing
Cops are now trained in Mental Health 101.
May 12, 2014
Nonexpansion States Strain Health Centers
More than 1 million patients who use federally funded community health centers will remain uninsured because they live in one of 24 states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, according to a study released Friday by researchers at George Washington University.
May 8, 2014
What Happens When You Shift Kids Off of Children's Medicaid?
Arizona offers a sneak peak at the costs of shifting kids off of CHIP and putting them in insurance exchanges.
May 6, 2014
Study: The Higher the Insured Rate, the Lower the Mortality Rate
Fewer people died in Massachusetts after the state required people to have health insurance, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health.
May 5, 2014
The Mexican Medical Care Option
Even with Obamacare, many Latinos still seek treatment In Mexico.
May 2, 2014
Obamacare Enrollment Data Released
Obama administration officials on Thursday predicted health insurance premiums would be stable next year despite concerns that not enough young and healthy people signed up through the online insurance exchanges.
April 28, 2014
How Is California Doing So Well Signing Up People for Obamacare?
From zero to 3.3 million Californians have signed up for health insurance. If every state had kept up with California's pace, then national exchange enrollment would have topped 12 million by now.
April 23, 2014
Is There Too Much Consolidation in Health Care?
An Idaho hospital battle is a microcosm of the debate over industry consolidation.
April 18, 2014
Obama Chastises States Not Expanding Medicaid
Enrollment in private health insurance on federal and state marketplaces has surged in recent weeks and now totals 8 million, a feisty President Barack Obama said Thursday.
April 15, 2014
Many More Americans Are Buying Private Health Insurance
The focus on state exchanges and healthcare.gov overlooks millions who have bought private health insurance.
April 15, 2014
Why's it so Hard to Find Out if Marketplace Plans Cover Abortion?
Abortion coverage details are very difficult to find on marketplace plans.
April 14, 2014
A Glimpse at State Health Exchange Enrollment
The enrollment experience varied according to states and Families USA brought together five state exchange directors Thursday to talk about what they’ve seen so far.
April 11, 2014
How Minnesota Could Save $966 Million on Alzheimer’s Care
The Alzheimer’s Disease Support Model could help states save millions, according to a new study.
April 11, 2014
Sebelius Steps Down as HHS Secretary
After a five-year tenure that included the flawed rollout of the health care law and stormy relations with Capitol Hill Republicans, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning, a White House official said late Thursday.
April 9, 2014
Nevada Offers All-Year Health Care Enrollment
Nevada offers a rare bet to state residents: Year-round sales of health insurance plans.
April 9, 2014
The Mentally Ill Mostly Go to Jail, Not Psych Hospitals
American jails house 10 times more mentally ill people than state hospitals.
April 2, 2014
Obama: HealthCare.gov Enrollment Exceeds 7M; ACA 'Here to Stay'
The Obama administration took a victory lap Tuesday as enrollment through the health law’s exchanges topped 7 million, a goal previously thought untouchable when the website healthcare.gov sputtered and crashed as sign-ups began last fall.
April 1, 2014
And for People Still Not Covered Under Obamacare... Community Health Centers
Community health centers may provide services for those who remain uninsured.
April 1, 2014
Primary Care Doctors Are Getting Burnt Out, Cutting Back
The greatest source of frustration for many physicians is working with electronic medical records.
March 31, 2014
Tech Startup Helps People Easily Compare Insurance Plans
One new company offers Californians quick assessments of some possible insurance plans.
March 24, 2014
Connecticut Opens Actual Stores to Sell Obamacare
Connecticut customers rush to retail stores to buy health insurance.
March 19, 2014
How Will Obamacare Succeed or Fail? Only 10 States Matter
Enrollment numbers in 10 states are critical to the administration's efforts to enroll 6 million Americans in new health plans.
March 17, 2014
The Big Information Gap Immigrants Have About Obamacare
Thousands of young California immigrants are eligible for coverage -- though often they don’t know it.
March 6, 2014
States Get Extra Time to Decide on Health Exchanges
The Obama administration on Wednesday released a broad set of regulatory changes to the health law that would give some consumers additional time to stay in plans that do not comply with all its coverage requirements and all consumers more time to enroll in coverage come 2015.
March 5, 2014
Why Did Los Angeles County Stop its Nursing Home Investigations?
Facing a backlog of hundreds of health and safety complaints, it appears county officials told inspectors to cut short nursing home probes.
February 28, 2014
When the Health Exchange Works, States Show Others How It's Done
Connecticut tries to sell its Obamacare success to other states.
February 21, 2014
But How Much Does the Health Care Service Cost?
Colorado's works to create a complete, useful health care price list. It's not an easy task.
February 21, 2014
How the 'Private Option' Medicaid Could Hurt Local Health Centers
It's not just if a state is expanding Medicaid that matters, but how.
February 14, 2014
Libraries Serving as Obamacare Information Hubs
Libraries are serving as Obamacare information hubs.
February 13, 2014
Where Health Care Is Most Expensive in America
The 10 most expensive health insurance markets in the U.S. are marked by a limited number of hospitals and specialists and large numbers of poor and unhealthy people.
February 13, 2014
Florida Will Create a Special Medicaid Plan for Foster Children
Finding roadblocks trying to get foster kids health care, Florida moves to manage a special program for the population.
February 13, 2014
Where Health Care Is Cheap in America
The 10 least expensive health insurance markets in the U.S. are marked by robust competition, salaried doctors and health systems that organize care.
February 13, 2014
How Did Obamacare Enrollment Fare in January?
Nearly 3.3 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance plans since October through the online marketplaces created by the health law, with enrollment continuing to surge through January, an Obama administration report said Wednesday.
February 11, 2014
How the Insurance Marketplace Doesn't Work for Many Gay Couples
Some same-sex couples are being denied family policies on the insurance marketplaces.
February 10, 2014
Arkansas’ Private Medicaid Experiment Could End June 30
The state's unique Medicaid experiment, which is key to Obamacare expansion, could end if it doesn't get GOP support.
February 7, 2014
Chinatown: Where Obamacare Works
Despite problems, the Affordable Care Act thrives in San Francisco's Chinatown.
January 31, 2014
Meet HealthCare.gov’s Fix-It Guy
Ex-Microsoft executive Kurt DelBene’s brings lists and a whiteboard to the overhaul of the Obamacare website.
January 28, 2014
In Western North Carolina, Getting Health Care Is a Lot More Complicated Than Navigating a Website
Sometimes getting health coverage means getting creative.
November 7, 2013
Some States Also Having Problems with Health Care Exchanges
Oregon's state exchange may be worse than Healthcare.gov
October 10, 2013
Obamacare Health Exchanges Open with Technical Glitches in Some States
Online marketplaces at the heart of the health law opened for business Tuesday, often haltingly, as Web-based insurance portals were swamped with consumers who were frequently unable to sign up.
October 7, 2013
Obamacare Plan Prices Vary Widely Across the Country
Consumers shopping in the new health insurance marketplaces find the pricing very complicated, while people in some areas of the country have to pay much more for the identical level of coverage than consumers elsewhere.
July 10, 2013
States Use Sports Teams to Inform Public About Health Exchanges
In an effort to get the word out about their new health exchanges, Massachusetts and Colorado are making use of local sports teams.
March 1, 2013
Some States Getting a Head Start on Health Plan Ratings
A handful of states, including Oregon, Maryland, Minnesota and California, are opting to start rating health plans based on quality well before they're required to in 2016 under federal health reform.
February 13, 2013
Illegal Immigrants Most Helped by Emergency Medicaid Program
Federal law generally bars illegal immigrants from being covered by Medicaid, but a little-known part of the state-federal health insurance program for the poor pays about $2 billion a year for emergency treatment for a group of patients comprised mostly of illegal immigrants.
August 28, 2012
Feds Urge Maryland to Think Big on Health Care Cost Control
Federal officials are urging Maryland and its powerful health industry to build on the state's unique hospital rate-setting system to develop sweeping cost controls that could be used as a model for other states.