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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.

Proposals, partisan rhetoric fly in countdown to March 1 spending cuts

News outlets report how spending reductions will impact health care programs. Meanwhile, in hopes of creating momentum toward a compromise, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles on Tuesday unveiled a $2.4 trillion proposal that includes $600 billion in spending reductions to health-care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

21 Feb 2013

Possible Medicare Advantage pay reductions cause insurer stocks to slip

The proposed cuts in federal payments, which are open to comment until March 1, could lead to reduced coverage or fewer options for people who choose to buy these plans.

21 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: ACOs are doomed to fail; The need to expand Medicaid in Texas; The case against malpractice changes in Iowa

Spurred by the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of pilot programs called Accountable Care Organizations have been launched over the past year, affecting tens of millions on Medicare and many who have commercial health insurance.

21 Feb 2013

Study measures awareness, adoption and use of informatics tools by infection preventionists

Advances in electronic medical record systems and health information exchange are shifting efforts in public health toward greater use of information systems to automate disease surveillance, but a study from the Regenstrief Institute has found that these technologies' capabilities are underutilized by those on the front lines of preventing and reporting infections.

21 Feb 2013

Opinions on the sequester: Too much Medicare spending on the affluent; Boehner says Obama got more taxes in the health law

The president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the American people don't support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. They understand that the tax debate is now closed.

20 Feb 2013

CMS issues MLR rules for Medicare plans

Elderly and disabled patients enrolled in Medicare will for the first time receive an annual reduction in out-of-pocket costs for drugs, the government announced. The standard deductible for plans in Medicare's drug program, called Part D, will be $310 in 2014, about 4.6 percent less than this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a statement today. Copayments also will be reduced for the program that began in 2006.

20 Feb 2013

In various states, groups battle over expanding Medicaid

Lawmakers and stakeholders continue to wrestle with the pros and cons of the health law's Medicaid expansion, as well as with the budget issues related to the state-federal insurance program for low-income people.

20 Feb 2013

Medicare trims, scaled-back tax breaks debated as part of budget fix

The Washington Post reports that President Barack Obama favors replacing the automatic cuts slated to take effect on March 1 with a combination of budget moves, including spending cuts in Medicare and Medicaid.

20 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Obama needs to offer plan on entitlements and spending; Assessing the paycheck crimp from health costs

President Barack Obama owes it to himself and to the country to make one more good shot at a Grand Bargain on spending, investment and tax reform before he opts for a strategy of trying to pummel the Republican Party. ... He has to lead with his chin and put a concrete, comprehensive package on the table, encompassing three areas. First, new investments that would combine immediate jobs in infrastructure with some long-term growth-enablers like a massive build-out in the nation's high-speed broadband capabilities.

19 Feb 2013

iCAD fourth quarter total revenue increases 18% to $7.8 million

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for the early identification and treatment of cancer, today reported financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2012.

19 Feb 2013

First Edition: February 19, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jay Hancock, working in collaboration with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reports: "Computer mistakes like the one that produced incorrect prescriptions for thousands of Rhode Island patients are probably far more common and dangerous than the Obama administration wants you to believe, says Drexel University's Dr. Scot Silverstein."

19 Feb 2013

Concerns raised about insurance markets under new law

Companies can avoid many standards in the new law by insuring their own employees, rather than signing up with commercial insurers, because Congress did not want to disrupt self-insurance arrangements that were seen as working well for many large employers.

19 Feb 2013

MIR names Aetna as Health Insurer of the Year

Aetna a leading global diversified health care benefits company, has been named "Health Insurer of the Year" for 2013 by MENA Insurance Review (MIR), a leading magazine covering the insurance sector in the Middle East and North Africa.

18 Feb 2013

Health exchanges: Today is states' decision day

States have to decide by Feb. 15 whether they will create their own health insurance exchanges or partner with the federal government. Meanwhile, during a congressional hearing marked by skepticism, a Health and Human Services official told lawmakers that the government would be ready to enroll people this fall.

16 Feb 2013

The politics and policies of the Medicaid expansion

State executives ranging from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon continue to wrestle with their plans regarding the expansion -- and repercussions, in terms of public opinon, budgets and policy decisions -- that are emerging as a result.

16 Feb 2013

Medicaid: Audits find overspending in Ga. program, N.C. official sets Medicaid priorities for lawmakers

A recent audit gave the state Department of Community Health a "clean report" but also found that the agency overspent its Medicaid budget by $32 million in fiscal 2012. The audit findings were discussed at an agency board meeting Thursday.

16 Feb 2013

Obama's Medicare drug rebate plan could save the government money, but also hit drug industry's bottom line

During his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama renewed a proposal to use drug rebates to save Medicare money -- a step that would trigger strong opposition from pharmaceutical companies.

16 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Bowles and Simpson urge Obama to seek Medicare savings; Health care industry helps stabilize the economy

The president deserves credit for putting forward Medicare savings in his budget and offering further entitlement savings in the negotiations, but he and his fellow Democrats must be willing to do more to reform our entitlement programs.

16 Feb 2013

Research roundup: Conflict of interest in Medicaid drug purchasing; Examining Medigap policies; Electronic medical records and hospital quality

The authors of this study assert that the decisions about which drugs are selected for state Medicaid reimbursement programs "should be based on available evidence and free of conflicts of interests (COIs)."

15 Feb 2013

LifePoint Hospitals fourth quarter revenues increase 14.3% to $893.3 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012.

15 Feb 2013

Medicaid News and Research

Proposals, partisan rhetoric fly in countdown to March 1 spending cuts

Possible Medicare Advantage pay reductions cause insurer stocks to slip

Viewpoints: ACOs are doomed to fail; The need to expand Medicaid in Texas; The case against malpractice changes in Iowa

Study measures awareness, adoption and use of informatics tools by infection preventionists

Opinions on the sequester: Too much Medicare spending on the affluent; Boehner says Obama got more taxes in the health law

CMS issues MLR rules for Medicare plans

In various states, groups battle over expanding Medicaid

Medicare trims, scaled-back tax breaks debated as part of budget fix

Viewpoints: Obama needs to offer plan on entitlements and spending; Assessing the paycheck crimp from health costs

iCAD fourth quarter total revenue increases 18% to $7.8 million

First Edition: February 19, 2013

Concerns raised about insurance markets under new law

MIR names Aetna as Health Insurer of the Year

Health exchanges: Today is states' decision day

The politics and policies of the Medicaid expansion

Medicaid: Audits find overspending in Ga. program, N.C. official sets Medicaid priorities for lawmakers

Obama's Medicare drug rebate plan could save the government money, but also hit drug industry's bottom line

Viewpoints: Bowles and Simpson urge Obama to seek Medicare savings; Health care industry helps stabilize the economy

Research roundup: Conflict of interest in Medicaid drug purchasing; Examining Medigap policies; Electronic medical records and hospital quality

LifePoint Hospitals fourth quarter revenues increase 14.3% to $893.3 million

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