Medicaid News and Research

RSS

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.

FDA approves EYLEA Injection for treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME).

29 Jul 2014

Sequenom's total revenues increase 62% to $39.8 million in Q2 2014

Sequenom, Inc., a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today reported total revenues of $39.8 million for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 62% compared to revenues of $24.5 million for the second quarter of 2013.

From Quest Diagnostics 29 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 29, 2014

Today's headlines include coverage of the latest Medicare trustee report and the details of the veterans care legislation on Capitol Hill.

29 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: GOP's 'political sideshow;' Boehner says House must defend the constitution; Jonathan Gruber on center stage about subsidies

This week, before the House leaves for its August recess, the GOP majority is expected to approve a lawsuit against Obama.

29 Jul 2014

Health law playing key role in Virginia politics

News outlets examine how the overhaul is factoring into the state's Senate race and changing the political landscape.

29 Jul 2014

New wave of patients boosting hospital earnings

Earnings reports offered last week by two hospital operators offer evidence that the health law's coverage expansion is leading more patients to seek treatment.

28 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 28, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the deal reached by House and Senate negotiators regarding veterans' health care.

28 Jul 2014

Despite public programs, food insecurity remains an intractable problem in the US

Vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, ethnic minorities, and low-income households are disproportionately affected by food security, despite the extensive private and public food safety net in the United States, according to a new report by RTI International.

27 Jul 2014

SAVE Medicare Home Health Act replaces unprecedented rebasing cuts

Home health leaders today said that growing support for the Securing Access Via Excellence (SAVE) Medicare Home Health Act – introduced last week by Representatives Greg Walden (OR-2) and Tom Price (GA-6) – underscores the importance of legislation to repeal the 14 percent, four-year rebasing cuts instituted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 1.

26 Jul 2014

GAHHA commends Congressman Price for introducing SAVE Medicare Home Health Act

Georgia Association for Home Health Agencies, Inc. (GAHHA) today thanked Congressman Tom Price (R-Roswell) for introducing new Medicare legislation that would replace across-the-board Medicare cuts with targeted reform that will improve the quality of home healthcare services.

26 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Ryan's 'thoughtful blueprint' to end poverty; GOP challenges after health law ruling

The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee today released a thoughtful blueprint for overhauling $800 billion worth of U.S. anti-poverty programs.

26 Jul 2014

HealthInsight to lead health care quality improvement activities for Medicare program

HealthInsight has been named to lead health care quality improvement activities for the Medicare Program for a four-state region serving Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah under a five-year contract awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

26 Jul 2014

NC Senate votes for managed care Medicaid overhaul

The move would offer a set amount of money per patient for care to managed care plans and would take administration of the program out of the hands of the state Department of Health and Human Services and into the hands of a politically appointed board.

26 Jul 2014

Expensive hepatitis drug challenges Medicaid programs' funding

State officials are nervous about how to afford the new medicine, which can run $84,000 for treatment. Also in Medicaid news, federal data show children using emergency room treatment at night or weekends are often on Medicaid.

26 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 25, 2014

Today's headlines include reports that the Obama administration is moving ahead in preparations for the health law's employer mandate.

25 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Looking to the supremes for answer on subsidies; 'personhood' laws

Liberals are telling themselves that the latest ObamaCare legal challenge won't amount to much, although more nervously after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the White House is defying the law's plain text by allotting insurance subsidies through the federal exchanges. Allow us to increase their anxiety by speeding things along to the Supreme Court (7/23).

25 Jul 2014

Longer looks: the economics of infertility; placebos as treatment raises ethical dilemmas

About a decade ago, Medicaid programs were struggling to keep up with skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Between 1997 and 2002, drug spending in the program for low-income Americans grew by about 20 percent annually. ... Medicaid directors began looking for ways to tamp down on those costs. One of the most popular policies was something called "prior authorization" for a new wave of more expensive, anti-psychotic drugs ,... These policies, in a sense, worked: they helped rein in how much Medicaid spent filling prescriptions. But in another sense, they may not have worked at all: a growing body of research has begun questioning whether restricting drug spending may have just shifted costs elsewhere - particularly, into the prison system (Sarah Kliff, 7/22).

25 Jul 2014

Direct medical costs projected to increase to $49 billion annually by 2020

The American College of Chest Physicians announced today the Online First publication of 'Total and State-Specific Medical and Absenteeism Costs of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years in the United States for 2010 and Projections Through 2020' in the journal CHEST.

25 Jul 2014

Highlights: Texas abortion rates falls dramatically; start-up problems for Virginia's psychiatric reforms

A four-month-old psychiatric-bed registry that is supposed to provide up-to-the-minute information for Virginians who need emergency mental health treatment is being updated as seldom as once a day, state officials told a panel of lawmakers this week (Shin, 7/22).

25 Jul 2014

$1,000-a-pill hepatitis C drug boosts Gilead's fortunes

Sales of the new hepatitis C drug Sovaldi reached $3.5 billion in the second quarter, putting it on track to become one of the world's best-selling medicines and intensifying concerns about its costs.

25 Jul 2014