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Pennsylvania, CMS agree on 'Healthy PA' Medicaid expansion plan

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a press statement Thursday announcing that CMS and Pennsylvania officials. have agreed to expand Medicaid in Pennsylvania.

29 Aug 2014

State highlights: Calif. hospital accused of patient dumping; Wash. mental health changes

Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit accusing Glendale Adventist Medical Center of dumping mentally ill and disabled homeless patients on L.A.'s skid row over the last four years. The six-page complaint, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, said the hospital improperly transported elderly and dependent patients to the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood, a 50-block area "known for extreme poverty, homelessness, rampant sale and use of illegal drugs and violent crime" (Holland, 8/22).

26 Aug 2014

In Arkansas' private-plan Medicaid expansion model, enrollees may have to contribute to HSAs

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker defended his Medicaid policy and decision not to pursue the health law's expansion.

21 Aug 2014

Self-reported health measures can predict Medicaid adults who need intensive health services

Just three types of simple self-reported health measures can predict which Medicaid-eligible adults are more likely to access intensive and costly health services over the next year, a new study in Health Services Research suggests. The findings could provide a new way to save a substantial amount of money while also providing better care for Medicaid's neediest patients.

20 Aug 2014

GOP ad strategy on health law shifts in Senate races

Some Republican strategists say the health overhaul is losing its punch, Bloomberg reports. In other political news, the American Hospital Association reports that it gave $3.3 million to state affiliates to lobby local officials on Medicaid expansion.

20 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Virginia lawmakers will convene in a special session next month to address the question of expanding Medicaid and, more broadly, the fact that hundreds of thousands of poor and disabled people in the state have no health insurance coverage. Democrats and some moderate Republicans have advanced a variety of ideas to tackle that problem. Conservative Republicans, who control the legislature in Richmond, have rejected those solutions while proposing no alternative. Does the GOP intend for the special session to be anything more than a charade at taxpayers' expense? (8/15).

19 Aug 2014

Researchers examine mental health conditions of "super mom" and "super dad“

Mental health experts in the past three decades have emphasized the dangers of post-partum depression for mothers, but a University of Kansas researcher says expanding awareness of several other perinatal mental health conditions is important for all new parents, including fathers.

18 Aug 2014

Cases of Ebola virus in West Africa continue to rise

Since the Ebola virus outbreak was first reported in March there have been nearly 2,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. This makes it the most serious Ebola epidemic to date.

15 Aug 2014

Texas lawmakers explore market-based alternatives to Medicaid

A legislative committee is examining market-based alternatives to providing low-income Texans with health care since the state has rejected the expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. Members of the state Senate Health and Human Services committee plan Thursday to discuss alternatives to the law critics call "Obamacare" (Weissert, 8/14).

15 Aug 2014

Health institutions tackle high rate of preterm birth

An estimated 15 million babies are born preterm every year and more than one million die within the first 30 days after birth.

14 Aug 2014

Prayer to ease symptoms of anxiety-related disorders does not have same effect for everybody

Whether the problem is health, enemies, poverty or difficulty with aging, "Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there," suggested the late gospel musician Charles A. Tindley. But when it comes to easing symptoms of anxiety-related disorders, prayer doesn't have the same effect for everybody, according to a Baylor University researcher.

13 Aug 2014

Research hopes to protect hundreds of newborns from severe health problems by protein in milk

An international effort led by the University of Sydney hopes to protect hundreds of Bangladeshi newborns from a host of severe health problems by assessing the effect of lactoferrin, a natural protein found in breast and cow's milk, in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy.

13 Aug 2014

Researchers look at impact of stigma on relationship quality of transgender women

Researchers who looked at the impact of discrimination, poverty and stigma on the mental health and relationship quality of transgender women and their male romantic partners found that social and economic marginalization not only takes a psychological toll on each person individually but also appears to undermine them as a couple.

13 Aug 2014

Plan International outlines strategies to combat Ebola outbreak

The current Ebola outbreak, the most severe and complex in history, is now making its impact felt worldwide.

12 Aug 2014

State highlights: Mo. drops many from Medicaid; Mich. Medicaid shift savings

A selection of health policy stories from Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Minnesota.

12 Aug 2014

BCBSIL awards grants to improve health and wellness of the people of Illinois

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is awarding $3,380,000 to nonprofit health and human service organizations that are making meaningful differences in the lives of the people of Illinois.

8 Aug 2014

Medicaid expansion dilemmas: Mental health care demands, impact of managed care, non-expansion states squeezed

The health law built in changes to the system of coverage for lower-income people. Mental health centers in Colorado are seeing a surge in new clients seeking services under the state's expansion of Medicaid.

7 Aug 2014

Innovative scholarship program expected to increase medical professionals in Coachella Valley

The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation is funding an innovative scholarship program that aims to bring back a Coachella Valley high school graduate as one of the area's trained physicians. The gift to the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine was awarded as a mission-based scholarship to incoming medical student Jay Thetford, a resident of Cathedral City, who intends to practice medicine in the Coachella Valley.

7 Aug 2014

Mental health coaching eases depression and reduces blood sugar levels in people with diabetes

In a rural, low-income area with a high rate of diabetes, mental health coaching significantly eased depression and reduced blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, according to a pilot study being presented here today at AADE14, the American Association of Diabetes Educators Annual Meeting & Exhibition.

6 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Treating Ebola patients in the U.S.; Medicare costs; discouraging Medicaid enrollment

It was a commendable decision - and more unnerving than risky - for Emory University to accept into its hospital two Americans who contracted the deadly Ebola virus while doing humanitarian work in Africa.

6 Aug 2014

Poverty News and Research

Pennsylvania, CMS agree on 'Healthy PA' Medicaid expansion plan

State highlights: Calif. hospital accused of patient dumping; Wash. mental health changes

In Arkansas' private-plan Medicaid expansion model, enrollees may have to contribute to HSAs

Self-reported health measures can predict Medicaid adults who need intensive health services

GOP ad strategy on health law shifts in Senate races

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Researchers examine mental health conditions of "super mom" and "super dad“

Cases of Ebola virus in West Africa continue to rise

Texas lawmakers explore market-based alternatives to Medicaid

Health institutions tackle high rate of preterm birth

Prayer to ease symptoms of anxiety-related disorders does not have same effect for everybody

Research hopes to protect hundreds of newborns from severe health problems by protein in milk

Researchers look at impact of stigma on relationship quality of transgender women

Plan International outlines strategies to combat Ebola outbreak

State highlights: Mo. drops many from Medicaid; Mich. Medicaid shift savings

BCBSIL awards grants to improve health and wellness of the people of Illinois

Medicaid expansion dilemmas: Mental health care demands, impact of managed care, non-expansion states squeezed

Innovative scholarship program expected to increase medical professionals in Coachella Valley

Mental health coaching eases depression and reduces blood sugar levels in people with diabetes

Viewpoints: Treating Ebola patients in the U.S.; Medicare costs; discouraging Medicaid enrollment

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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