Medicaid News and Research

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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

FSMB partners with NAM to form Action Collaborative on countering opioid epidemic

In recognition of the need for a national coordinated and collective response to the epidemic of opioid addiction in the U.S., the Federation of State Medical Boards is partnering with the National Academy of Medicine and 35 organizations to form the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.

1 Aug 2018

Some doctors, patients balk at Medicare’s ‘flat fee’ payment proposal

The Trump administration announced a plan Friday that would affect about 40 percent of the payments physicians receive from Medicare. Not everybody’s pleased.

31 Jul 2018

Infants experiencing homelessness found to be at greater risk of poor health

A new study led by researchers from Children's HealthWatch, a research and policy network headquartered at Boston Medical Center, shows infants under 12 months old who experience homelessness are at-risk of poor health and development compared to their peers in housed families.

31 Jul 2018

Missed visits, uncontrolled pain and fraud: report says hospice lacks oversight

Elderly patients spent over two weeks in uncontrolled pain or respiratory distress. Acute care was rare on weekends. And recruiters went door to door pitching fraudulent schemes, luring healthy patients to sign up for hospice in exchange for free housecleaning and medicine.

31 Jul 2018

Mining a new data set to pinpoint critical staffing issues in skilled nursing facilities

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is not known for linguistic playfulness. Nonetheless, at least one person there must have been chuckling when it named its rich new data source for nursing home staffing levels the Payroll-Based Journal, or PBJ.

30 Jul 2018

1,400 nursing homes get lower Medicare ratings because of staffing concerns

Medicare has lowered its star ratings for staffing levels in 1 in 11 of the nation's nursing homes — almost 1,400 of them — because they either had inadequate numbers of registered nurses or failed to provide payroll data that proved they had the required nursing coverage, federal records released last week show.

30 Jul 2018

Researchers investigate reason for increase in bariatric surgery wait times

Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and borderline high blood pressure, Dana Hayes pursued bariatric surgery in hopes of living a healthier life.

27 Jul 2018

Penn Medicine receives federal government approval to develop imaging guidelines

The United States Congressional Budget Office estimates that 5 percent of the country's gross domestic product is spent on medical tests and procedures that do not improve patient outcomes.

27 Jul 2018

Surgeons call for shared decision making when patient's risks of surgery outweigh benefits

In an essay published July 26 in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ira Leeds, M.D., research fellow, and David Efron, M.D., professor of surgery, both of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with their collaborator, Lisa Lehmann, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, call for shared decision making when a patient's risks for surgical complications may outweigh the potential benefits of an operation.

27 Jul 2018

No gaps in understanding: Here’s your primer on Medigap coverage

Every year, older adults can opt out of a Medicare Advantage plan and opt in to original Medicare during open enrollment season, which begins on Oct. 15.

26 Jul 2018

Alzheimer’s disease greater in females, researchers speculate

This week, at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago, a group of researchers presented reserch findings on the gender differences in Alzheimer’s causation. They speculated that women might be getting Alzheimer’s and dementia more commonly than men and the reason behind this has not been clearly understood. Estrogen or the female hormone could be the key, the researchers state.

23 Jul 2018

Studies highlight issues regarding black lung, opioid overdose, police violence and more

This study found the national prevalence of coal worker's pneumoconiosis (black lung) is increasing among working coal miners. In central Appalachia, 20.6 percent of miners working more than 25 years have black lung disease.

20 Jul 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Drug prices and unicorns

A trio of court actions provide news for this week's “What the Health?'” panel. A federal appeals court this week handed hospitals a setback in their effort to stop the Trump administration from cutting funding for a program that provides deep discounts on drugs.

19 Jul 2018

Children with disabilities endure long waits for life-changing medical equipment

Bev Baker-Ajene waited so long to get an adult-sized wheelchair for her teenage daughter, Savitri, that she eventually forgot she'd ordered it.

19 Jul 2018

Bundled-payment system did not lower costs for serious medical conditions, shows study

A payment system that provides financial incentives for hospitals that reduce health-care costs for Medicare patients did not lower costs as intended, according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

19 Jul 2018

Staggering prices slow insurers’ coverage of CAR-T cancer therapy

Patients whose blood cancers have failed to respond to repeated rounds of chemotherapy may be candidates for a new type of gene therapy that could send their cancers into remission for years.

17 Jul 2018

In Florida, midterm elections hold faint hope for Medicaid expansion

Can the deep-red Florida Statehouse follow Virginia and expand Medicaid? Highly unlikely anytime soon, many state political analysts say.

16 Jul 2018

Mailing colorectal cancer tests to patients increases screening rates, report researchers

Mailing colorectal cancer screening tests to patients insured by Medicaid increased screening rates for this population, report researchers at the University of North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Jul 2018

‘Like a ghost town’: Erratic nursing home staffing revealed through new records

Most nursing homes had fewer nurses and caretaking staff than they had reported to the government, according to new federal data, bolstering the long-held suspicions of many families that staffing levels were often inadequate.

13 Jul 2018

High opioid doses, concurrent sedative use are key factors for overdose risk in Medicaid recipients

Among Medicaid recipients taking prescription opioids, high opioid doses and concurrent treatment with benzodiazepine sedatives are among the key, potentially modifiable risk factors for fatal overdose, reports a study in the August issue of Medical Care.

13 Jul 2018

Medicaid News and Research

FSMB partners with NAM to form Action Collaborative on countering opioid epidemic

Some doctors, patients balk at Medicare’s ‘flat fee’ payment proposal

Infants experiencing homelessness found to be at greater risk of poor health

Missed visits, uncontrolled pain and fraud: report says hospice lacks oversight

Mining a new data set to pinpoint critical staffing issues in skilled nursing facilities

1,400 nursing homes get lower Medicare ratings because of staffing concerns

Researchers investigate reason for increase in bariatric surgery wait times

Penn Medicine receives federal government approval to develop imaging guidelines

Surgeons call for shared decision making when patient's risks of surgery outweigh benefits

No gaps in understanding: Here’s your primer on Medigap coverage

Alzheimer’s disease greater in females, researchers speculate

Studies highlight issues regarding black lung, opioid overdose, police violence and more

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Drug prices and unicorns

Children with disabilities endure long waits for life-changing medical equipment

Bundled-payment system did not lower costs for serious medical conditions, shows study

Staggering prices slow insurers’ coverage of CAR-T cancer therapy

In Florida, midterm elections hold faint hope for Medicaid expansion

Mailing colorectal cancer tests to patients increases screening rates, report researchers

‘Like a ghost town’: Erratic nursing home staffing revealed through new records

High opioid doses, concurrent sedative use are key factors for overdose risk in Medicaid recipients

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