Efforts to reduce Medicaid costs leave docs, hospitals feeling pinch

In an effort to contain health care costs, dozens of states are reducing Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. A report from a University of Kansas researcher, though, finds a "glaring need" for more preventive services and patient education and argues these steps are ways to control Medicaid spending.

Kaiser Health News: A Dozen States Slice Medicaid Payments To Doctors, Hospitals
To contain soaring Medicaid costs, about a dozen cash-strapped states are kicking off their new budget years by reducing payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that treat the poor (Galewitz, 7/5). Read more on Medicaid payment cuts in S.C.

Kansas Health Institute: KU researcher: More Preventive Services Would Cut Medicaid Costs
Expanding Medicaid to include more preventive services and patient education would reduce the program's overall costs, according to a University of Kansas researcher. Amanda Reichard, of KU's Research and Training Center on Independent Living, has spent more than eight years mining Kansas Medicaid claims data. Her research, she said, has shown a "glaring need" for more preventive care (Cauthon, 7/5).