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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.

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

Blue Shield Life and Health is imposing an unreasonable rate increase on over 80,000 Californians with individual health insurance policies, an average of 9.8% that adds up to a 22.8% increase for the year. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that the company would not budge on its excessive rate hike.

8 Jan 2014

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

A selection of health policy stories from Virginia, Florida, Texas, Georgia and California.

8 Jan 2014

Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Hospitals that treat more poor seniors who are on both Medicaid and Medicare tend to have higher rates of readmissions, triggering costly penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, finds a new study in Health Services Research.

8 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

For decades a common refrain was that the rapid rise in health spending hurt the competitiveness of American businesses and ate into workers' take-home pay. Businesses and politicians from both sides of the aisle agreed that something had to be done to slow the growth of health-care costs.

8 Jan 2014

Study debunks concern that people would move across state lines to get Medicaid

This concern has been a part of the debate over the health law's Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, in Kansas, a new push is underway.

7 Jan 2014

Sen. Johnson's suit on Obamacare blasted by fellow republican

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., is attacking the lawsuit filed Monday by Sen. Ron Johnson, also a Republican from Wisconsin, that seeks to change how the health law is applied to Congress and cut off federal government payments.

7 Jan 2014

Health care spending grew at record slow pace

Americans' spending on health care rose a relatively modest 3.7 percent in 2012 -- slower than the growth of the overall economy -- dropping from 17.3 percent of U.S. spending to 17.2 percent, according to an annual report from the Centers on Medicare & Medicaid Services.

7 Jan 2014

Healthcare Trust of America executes new $300 million senior unsecured loan

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. announced today that it had executed a new $300 million senior unsecured, 4-year term loan (the "New Term Loan").

7 Jan 2014

Texas hospital officials criticize proposal to limit Obamacare navigators

Texas hospital officials and Democrats complained about proposed state legislation to impose greater training requirements and fees on navigators, while a Florida group gets a grant for outreach to Hispanics.

7 Jan 2014

Medicare seeks to tighten drug program rules to fight fraud

Draft regulations issued Monday would overhaul the prescription drug program and could save up to $1.3 billion over five years.

7 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 7, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of reports about state developments related to the health law's online marketplaces as well as details regarding the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' figures on health costs.

7 Jan 2014

CMS report shows slower growth in health spending with the Affordable Care Act implementation

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued findings that show slower growth in health spending since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This successful cost control is consistent with data demonstrating that savings from generic medicines are at an all-time high, reaching $217 billion in 2012 and $1.2 trillion over the most recent decade, according to the 2013 Report on Generic Drug Savings in the U.S., the fifth annual report compiled by IMS Health on behalf of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

7 Jan 2014

HHS to release slow-growth health spending numbers as Obama readies for big push for law

News outlets covered administration efforts to build public confidence in the Affordable Care Act.

7 Jan 2014

State highlights: N.C. officials detail Medicaid personal info mishap; comparing childbirth at Mass. hospitals; fixing Fla.'s pharmacy law 'glitch'

North Carolina health officials have clarified precisely when they first learned that cards with the personal information of nearly 49,000 children receiving Medicaid benefits had been mailed to the wrong addresses.

7 Jan 2014

Calif. extends payment deadline for new insurance plans; Md. gov. to push emergency legislation for exchange woes

Meanwhile, news outlets also report on state health law implementation action in Minnesota, Iowa and Pennsylvania.

7 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Rethinking what health insurance should cover; Sen. Johnson suing over congressional health plan; Medicaid's unsung success

The proper role of health insurance should be to finance necessary and expensive medical services without the patient incurring devastating financial consequences. Over the last decade, however, Americans have come to expect their health insurance to subsidize the consumption of all medical care. ... This shift in expectation has meant that health insurance stands out as entirely different from all other types of insurance. Ask yourself: Would you use automobile insurance to buy gasoline? Would you use homeowner insurance to finance painting your house? This wrongheaded view has played an important role in contributing to rapidly rising health care costs (George P. Shultz, Scott W. Atlas and John F. Cogan, 1/5).

7 Jan 2014

Antidepressant medications do not increase suicide risk in children

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center study released today shows there is no evidence that the risk of suicide differs with two commonly prescribed antidepressants prescribed to children and adolescents.

7 Jan 2014

Have more people lost health insurance than gained it?

Fact checkers from the Washington Post and FactCheck.Org examine GOP claims about the number of people who have lost coverage -- both in terms of individual and employer-provided coverage -- as a result of the health law.

7 Jan 2014

Wis. Senator suing Obama administration over health law subsidies

Meanwhile, fellow Republicans Sen. Rand Paul and Phil Gingrey also are heavily criticizing the law.

7 Jan 2014

Medicaid expansion efforts facing challenges from HealthCare.gov problems

The Washington Post and Kaiser Health News report that some people who would be eligible for this coverage may be falling through the cracks. Meanwhile, Bloomberg examines how access to health care plays out differently in states that pursued the expansion and those that didn't and a look at the difficult issue of people moving between Medicaid and private insurance.

6 Jan 2014

Medicaid News and Research

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

Study debunks concern that people would move across state lines to get Medicaid

Sen. Johnson's suit on Obamacare blasted by fellow republican

Health care spending grew at record slow pace

Healthcare Trust of America executes new $300 million senior unsecured loan

Texas hospital officials criticize proposal to limit Obamacare navigators

Medicare seeks to tighten drug program rules to fight fraud

First Edition: January 7, 2014

CMS report shows slower growth in health spending with the Affordable Care Act implementation

HHS to release slow-growth health spending numbers as Obama readies for big push for law

State highlights: N.C. officials detail Medicaid personal info mishap; comparing childbirth at Mass. hospitals; fixing Fla.'s pharmacy law 'glitch'

Calif. extends payment deadline for new insurance plans; Md. gov. to push emergency legislation for exchange woes

Viewpoints: Rethinking what health insurance should cover; Sen. Johnson suing over congressional health plan; Medicaid's unsung success

Antidepressant medications do not increase suicide risk in children

Have more people lost health insurance than gained it?

Wis. Senator suing Obama administration over health law subsidies

Medicaid expansion efforts facing challenges from HealthCare.gov problems

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