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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

Experts question accuracy of fast-growing veterans' PTSD claims

The number of VA disability awards based on post traumatic stress disorder symptoms has grown fivefold over the past 13 years, and some mental health officials suggest that financial rewards may be causing some vets to exaggerate their conditions.

5 Aug 2014

Semler Scientific revenues increase $371,000 to 78% in second quarter 2014

Semler Scientific, Inc., an emerging medical risk assessment company that develops patented products that assist healthcare providers in monitoring patients and evaluating chronic diseases, today reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2014.

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

Highlights: Florida officials crack down on direct Medicaid marketing; a wellness plan in Washington state breaks the mold

[Florida] health officials are taking a cue from past problems and are banning health insurance companies from marketing their plans directly to Medicaid consumers as the state is rolling out a massive overhaul by transitioning millions into managed care. Insurance companies are allowed to market to consumers under the contracts, but only if the state gives prior approval (Kennedy, 7/22).

23 Jul 2014

State highlights: Concerns continue about Coakley-partners antitrust settlement; Maine's Lepage announces extra $13.1 million for nursing homes

Criticism of Attorney General Martha Coakley's antitrust pact with the state's largest health care system mounted Thursday as a watchdog panel warned a judge the proposed deal might not meet its goal of holding down medical expenses.

21 Jul 2014

NC Senate plan to overhaul state Medicaid program draws fire from doctors and hospitals

The North Carolina plan was presented by state senators during a Wednesday meeting of the Senate Rules and Operations Committee.

18 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Lower health spending is welcome news; media bias against health law success

The last few years have seen a puzzling and welcome new trend in health care spending: Instead of going up and up, increases have slowed way down.

17 Jul 2014

States grapple with mental illness issues; Oregon moves closer to limiting Medicaid patients' access to new hepatitis C drugs

The numbers, posted daily on the Cook County sheriff's website, would be alarming at an urgent care clinic, let alone a jail: On a Wednesday, 36 percent of all new arrivals report having a mental illness. On a Friday, it's 54 percent. But inside the razor wire framing the 96-acre compound, the faces and voices of the newly arrested confirm its accidental role as Chicago's treatment center of last resort for people with serious mental illnesses (Geller, 7/14).

16 Jul 2014

Research roundup: Clinics and electronic records; young adults baffled by exchange; Medicare spending slowdown

We found that in 2012 nine out of ten health centers had adopted a EHR system, and half had adopted EHRs with basic capabilities. Seven in ten health centers reported that their providers were receiving meaningful-use incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

14 Jul 2014

HHS grant to support new model of care for patients with complex cancer

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a three-year grant to University Hospitals Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center totaling $4.7 million to support a new national model aimed at improving care for patients with complex cancer.

11 Jul 2014

State roundup: Christie vows overhaul of pension, health benefits; Ill., Fla. move more into Medicaid managed care

Gov. Chris Christie said he would propose an overhaul to the state's pension and health benefits system later this summer, revisiting an issue that burnished his national political image in 2011 but challenged him this spring when he scaled back promised funding. As the governor signed a $32.5 billion budget on Monday, he vetoed tax increases designed to offset pension costs and called changing the pension and benefits system his main economic priority for 2014 (Dawsey and Haddon, 6/30).

2 Jul 2014

Glenridge HealthCare Solutions acquired by WhiteGlove Health

WhiteGlove Health, Inc., a leading chronic care and population health management provider, announced the acquisition of Glenridge HealthCare Solutions, a premier provider of technology-enabled network development and consulting services.

30 Jun 2014

GNS automated data analytics can predict future risk of metabolic syndrome in patients

Research published today in The American Journal of Managed Care demonstrates that analysis of patient records using state-of-the-art data analytics can predict future risk of metabolic syndrome.

28 Jun 2014

State highlights: Ohio managed care plans launch; Bluecross Blueshield plan faces Ore. lawsuit; N.Y. policy on unvaccinated children upheld

A selection of health policy stories from Ohio, Oregon, New York, Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, California and Minnesota.

24 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Concerns about ACOs; problems in Va. gov.'s strategy; Medicaid 'black hole'

Although Obamacare's health insurance expansion has directly provided coverage to only about 4 percent of Americans, changes embedded in the Affordable Care Act could affect many more people, and not always in good ways.

24 Jun 2014

State highlights: Illinois Medicaid digital shift delayed; N.C. hospitals fight cuts; heroin in New England

Alexian Brothers Health System is suspending its effort to launch a new Medicaid program, blaming the difficulty of connecting physicians using different electronic records systems. The Arlington Heights, Ill.-based health system was spearheading a so-called accountable care entity (ACE) to coordinate the care of about 46,000 patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled. The ACEs are a form of managed care, one of Gov. Pat Quinn's initiatives to focus on preventative treatment to keep patients healthy and reduce health care costs (Schorsch, 6/17).

19 Jun 2014

Research roundup: Hospital readmissions; researchers mistrust social media; premiums in Washington state

Reducing hospital readmissions is a major target for current quality improvement and cost-containment efforts.

16 Jun 2014

State highlights: Calif. jails face problems with inmates with mental illness; Conn. patients to get 'facility fee' notice

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said board members and their staffs were not privy to communications sent by the U.S. Justice Department to Sheriff's Department and county mental health officials regarding ongoing problems until September. That's when county officials received a letter announcing a federal civil-rights investigation of the jail system (Sewell, 6/10).

12 Jun 2014

State highlights: Mass. near 0 percent uninsured; Ga. scraps Medicaid contract bidding; states turn to public health issues

When Massachusetts passed its landmark health coverage law under Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006, no one claimed the state would get to zero, as in 0 percent of residents who are uninsured. But numbers out today suggest Massachusetts is very close. Between December 2013 and March of this year, when the federal government was urging people to enroll, the number of Massachusetts residents signed up for health coverage increased by more than 215,000. If that number holds, the percentage of Massachusetts residents who do not have coverage has dropped to less than 1 percent (Bebinger, 6/9).

11 Jun 2014