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.

Medicaid expansion in the states: Who's in? Who's out?

The tally continues to change regarding the governors who have said they will pursue the health law's Medicaid expansion. Most recently, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said he is opposed to it, while Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett appears to be on the verge of reversing his position against the expansion. And, in Ohio, Gov. John Kasich is looking for allies to convince Republicans in the state legislature to follow his lead.

3 Mar 2013

Report: Drug companies spent $84M marketing pharmaceuticals in the District of Columbia in 2011

Drug companies spent nearly $84 million marketing pharmaceuticals in the District of Columbia in 2011, including an outlay of nearly $19 million for gifts given to physicians, hospitals and other health care providers, according to a report by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

2 Mar 2013

Ark. lawmakers override veto of bill banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy

Arkansas' Republican-controlled Senate voted to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of a bill that will ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The chamber also approved a bill -- and sent it to Beebe -- that would ban most abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected -- typically after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

2 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: A failure to govern; Democrats 'moved the goal posts' in Va. deal on Medicaid panel; Hospitals 'squeeze' the uninsured

To govern is to choose. By missing Friday's deadline for averting $85 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts to defense and domestic programs, Congress and President Obama have chosen not to govern. Instead, each side has concluded that its interest lies in letting the "sequester" proceed as scheduled - and then trying to win the political blame game.

2 Mar 2013

Chicago's poorest neighborhoods to experience demand for additional primary care doctors

Some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods are expected to see the greatest demand for additional primary care doctors in 2014, as the Affordable Care Act boosts the number of newly insured patients seeking medical services, a new study has found.

2 Mar 2013

Roundup: Candy, soda tax weighed in Mass.; N.H. health group rallies against higher smoker premiums; Ga. considers novel malpractice reform

Are candy and soda food? In Massachusetts, candy and soda are considered food and are exempt from the state's 6.25 percent sales tax. But Gov. Deval Patrick wants to change that. He's proposing that the legislature tax every bag of M&M's and bottle of Pepsi bought in the state.

2 Mar 2013

NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.8 receives ONC HIT certification

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today that its NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.8 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as a Complete EHR on March 1, 2013 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, an ONC-ACB, in accordance with the applicable Eligible certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

2 Mar 2013

Does sequestration offer a budgetary bright side?

News outlets set the scene for the impact on the health care sector and the Medicare program by the sequester's scheduled cuts, which kick in March 1.

1 Mar 2013

State roundup: Medicaid costs slow states' recovery

Like a bad hangover that won't go away, some states are still suffering from the effects of the recession that technically ended three and half years ago. … Some states, including Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee, started the new session with surpluses, but none are planning to embark on new spending.

1 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 1, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "David P. Blom is one of thousands of hospital executives across the country who are bracing for a reduction in Medicare payments as part of a series of federal spending cuts that begin Friday. Blom, 58, is president and chief executive officer of OhioHealth, a Columbus, Ohio, based not-for-profit health care system that includes 18 hospitals, 23 health and surgery centers, home-health providers and other facilities."

1 Mar 2013

Arkansas, Michigan advance payment plans for health exchanges

Today's headlines include reports that Arkansas will use federal funds to pay for its state-based health exchange while action in Michigan suggests momentum might be building to pursue a partnership exchange that will be run by the federal government.

1 Mar 2013

State lawmakers' positions on Medicaid expansion key to plans' future

Even after governors -- both Republican and Democrat -- express their interest in opting for the health law's Medicaid expansion, the action that follows in state legislatures is important to watch. News reports follow from states including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Virginia.

1 Mar 2013

Wright Medical Group acquires BioMimetic Therapeutics

Wright Medical Group, Inc. today announced that it has completed its acquisition of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. The transaction combines BioMimetic's breakthrough biologics platform and pipeline with Wright's established sales force and product portfolio, to further accelerate growth opportunities in Wright's Extremities business.

1 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Michelle Obama makes a business case for healthy food; Orszag weighs reforms to Medical malpractice

For years, America's childhood obesity crisis was viewed as an insurmountable problem, one that was too complicated and too entrenched to ever really solve. According to the conventional wisdom, healthy food simply didn't sell - the demand wasn't there and higher profits were found elsewhere - so it just wasn't worth the investment. But thanks to businesses across the country, today we are proving the conventional wisdom wrong.

28 Feb 2013

Proposals to transform Medicaid spur enthusiasm, worries

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber pushes his state's model for "reinventing" Medicaid with coordinated care organizations, while a proposed expansion of Medicaid managed care in Texas sparks worries about care for the disabled.

28 Feb 2013

Medicaid physician pay boost stalled by delay in federal regs

No states appear to have implemented a temporary Medicaid physician pay boost more than eight weeks after it was supposed to have gone into effect, according to provider groups tracking the issue.

28 Feb 2013

Other governors pressured for and against Medicaid expansion

In North Carolina, lawmakers passed legislation barring the state from expanding the program for the poor, while in Pennsylvania, Kansas and West Virginia, supporters are pressing the economic and political advantages of the health law provision made optional by the Supreme Court.

28 Feb 2013

N.J.'s Christie joins ranks of GOP govs to opt to expand Medicaid

The decision by Gov. Chris Christie would provide health insurance to an estimated 104,000 of the poorest 1.3 million uninsured residents of the state. With this move, Christie follows other Republican governors who were staunch opponents of the health law, including Ohio's John Kasich and Florida's Rick Scott.

28 Feb 2013

Sequester scare touches issues related to Medicare, Medicaid spending

The $85 billion in scheduled spending cuts to defense and discretionary accounts are scheduled to kick in Friday, and movement toward a last-ditch strategy has not been evident.

28 Feb 2013

State roundup: Health care industry calls drug testing bill in N.H. 'vague'

Representatives from the health care industry said Tuesday they have a vested interest in stopping employees from stealing controlled substances but a bill being considered by New Hampshire lawmakers to drug test their workers is too vague. The proposal is part of the legislative response to a recent scandal at Exeter Hospital, where an employee allegedly stole drugs and replaced them with Hepatitis C infected syringes later used on patients.

28 Feb 2013