Health and Human Services News and Research

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Medicaid, CHIP enrollments top 7 million

The Department of Health and Human Services reported Friday that 7.2 million people gained insurance through these programs since the health law's eligibility changes began last October. In addition, Arkansas and New Hampshire offer snapshots of their states' enrollment pictures, while Kansas and Missouri hospitals brace for the price of state decisions not to expand the low-income health insurance program.

11 Aug 2014

Health law funds new search for health care improvements

News outlets report on aspects of the health law designed to foster and test innovation in the nation's health care delivery system.

11 Aug 2014

Longer looks: Kentucky is health law poster child; how to negotiate a lower medical bill; the Ebola outbreak up close

About a year ago, on Aug. 22, a team of inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services arrived in Frankfort, Ky., to see if the people working out of a nondescript warehouse there were going to be able to pull off the launch of Kentucky's Obamacare health-insurance exchange.

8 Aug 2014

Medicare benefits from immigrants, study says

A study by the Partnership for a New American Economy concluded that immigrants make a substantial contribution to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund -- putting more into the system than they take out.

7 Aug 2014

Report says feds stop public disclosure of serious hospital errors

USA Today reports the federal government has stopped publicly reporting when hospitals leave foreign objects in patients' bodies or make other life-threatening mistakes. Meanwhile, Medicare spent more than $30 million on questionable HIV medications in 2012 and the agency is resuming audits for some fee-for-service claims.

7 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 6, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that details how politics play a role in the nation's health care gap between red and blue states.

6 Aug 2014

Hepatitis C could become a rare disease by 2036

Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The results of the simulation are reported in the August 5 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

5 Aug 2014

$5.8 million grant for coalition project to help reduce strokes and heart attacks in San Diego County

Approximately 84 million people in the United States suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, and about 720,000 Americans have a heart attack every year, which works out to one every 44 seconds.

5 Aug 2014

Medicaid roundup: Florida receives 3-year renewal for managed care program; Illinois limits Sovaldi

About 3 million Floridians are enrolled in the privatized program. Meanwhile, Illinois Medicaid puts limits on who is eligible for Sovaldi, an expensive hepatitis C drug, and Kansas recoups more than $28 million in Medicaid fraud.

5 Aug 2014

Community-based doulas dramatically increase breastfeeding rates in underserved communities

A new study by the federal government finds that community-based doulas – based on a program started by HealthConnect One – dramatically increase breastfeeding rates in underserved communities, where a baby's exposure to breast milk can help mitigate the impacts of poverty.

4 Aug 2014

State highlights: Time of turmoil for Georgia hospitals; Oregon Medicaid takes aim at expensive heptatitis C drug

A selection of health policy stories from Gerogia, Wisconsin, Texas, Oregon, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut and North Carolina.

4 Aug 2014

Administration says next marketplace enrollment season will have 'bumps'

In a House hearing, the number two officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services responds to a critical GAO report and says while improvements to the federal online exchange are being made, it still "won't be perfect."

4 Aug 2014

GAO report: Poor planning and contractor oversight led to Healthcare.gov woes

The government watchdog organization also found that more problems could emerge in the upcoming enrollment season. Investigators suggested implementation of a cost-control plan and improved oversight procedures, among other steps.

31 Jul 2014

Combination therapy effective in treating drug-resistant malaria

Resistance to artemisinin, the main drug to treat malaria, is now widespread throughout Southeast Asia, among the Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) parasites that cause the disease and is likely caused by a genetic mutation in the parasites.

31 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 31, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the possible hazards that the future might hold for healthcare.gov.

31 Jul 2014

U.S.-funded effort revitalizes, expands medical education in sub-Saharan Africa

Medical education in sub-Saharan Africa is being revitalized and expanded through a U.S.-funded effort that is dramatically increasing enrollment, broadening curricula, upgrading Internet access and providing cutting-edge skills labs and other technologies.

31 Jul 2014

El Camino Hospital uses Leaf Patient Monitoring system to help prevent hospital-acquired pressure ulcers

El Camino Hospital, a leader in the use of technology to improve patient care, is utilizing the Leaf Patient Monitoring system to help prevent hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by monitoring the position and movement of patients susceptible to bed sores.

30 Jul 2014

State highlights: Calif. insurance commissioner asks for premium power

A selection of health policy stories from California, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, Kansas and New York.

30 Jul 2014

Report: The forecast for Medicare trust fund is flush 'til 2030

The Medicare trustees added four years to the solvency of the trust fund as Medicare's financial circumstances experienced a slight improvement due in part to the continued slowdown in health care spending and, some say, elements of the health law.

30 Jul 2014

States wrestle with Medicaid expansion challenges

Application backlogs are an issue in Missouri and South Carolina. In Florida, a medical association makes clear its support for expanding the low-income health insurance program, and in Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal carves out a limited exception to his opposition to expanding Medicaid.

29 Jul 2014