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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.

Trouble spot in fiscal talks: The down payment

Although there appears to be general agreement about tax code and entitlement changes that would begin next year and tally more than $1 trillion over 10 years, the initial installment of deficit reduction has become a sticking point between the White House and GOP leaders. Meanwhile, the Washington Post checks the facts on entitlement "spending cuts."

5 Dec 2012

GOP counteroffer includes raising Medicare's eligibility age to 67

The Republican marker, which was almost immediately rebuffed by the White House, includes cuts to federal safety net programs, but does not meet the president's "test of balance" because it rejects tax increases for the wealthy.

5 Dec 2012

Roundup: Building more Texas medical schools; Calif. mental health care for children

Recommendations in a new draft report on Texas undergraduate medical education caution against rushing to build any new medical schools, which may irk those that are pushing to do exactly that. The report was prepared by the staff of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and posted on the agency's website on Monday in preparation for an upcoming meeting of their Task Force on Graduate Health Professions.

5 Dec 2012

Appeals court reverses conviction of drug sales rep who talked about off-label uses

In a case that could have broad ramifications for the pharmaceutical industry, a federal appeals court on Monday threw out the conviction of a sales representative who sold a drug for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The judges said that the ban on so-called off-label marketing violated the representative's freedom of speech.

5 Dec 2012

Arkansas Autism Partnership selects ATS to provide online training program

Arkansas Autism Partnership (AAP) has selected Autism Training Solutions (ATS) to provide online autism training to direct line staff, lead therapists and parents participating in Arkansas' Autism Medicaid Waiver Program.

5 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: David Brooks' formula to avoid Cliff; Krugman says control costs, don't cut coverage

Republicans should go to the White House and say they are willing to see top tax rates go up to 36 percent or 37 percent and they are willing to forgo a debt-ceiling fight for this year.

5 Dec 2012

Scheduled Medicare doctor pay cut could be just a few weeks away

Medscape and The Connecticut Mirror covered the looming 26.5 percent cut, mandated by the SGR law.

4 Dec 2012

Leapfrog Group names Kaiser Permanente among 2012 Top Hospitals

Seventeen Kaiser Permanente hospitals – 10 in Northern California and seven in Southern California – have been named 2012 "Top Hospitals" by the Leapfrog Group, an honor that rewards medical centers for their outstanding success in areas such as reducing infection rates, safety practices, mortality rates for common procedures and measures of efficiency.

4 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Disputing Obama's and GOP's commitment to cutting spending and avoiding fiscal cliff

President Obama has said he wants to reform entitlements eventually, someday, after Republicans raise taxes. Republicans want the President to sign on to serious reform now as part of any deal, since AARP and the left will kill anything that isn't passed immediately. Given the political difficulty of reforming entitlements, Republicans are right to try to get Mr. Obama's fingerprints on such a deal this year.

4 Dec 2012

Political, policy decisions swirl around state plans to implement health exchanges, Medicaid expansion

Even as the Department of Health and Human Services releases regulations offering guidance for the health law's online insurance marketplaces, these health exchanges -- as well as the overhaul's Medicaid expansion -- continue to be hot topics.

3 Dec 2012

Hospice Compassus publicly reveals patient quality data

Hospice Compassus, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that operates a nationwide network of hospice programs, has become the first hospice provider in the U.S. to publicly reveal patient quality data.

3 Dec 2012

'Fiscal Cliff' talks morphing into high-stakes game of political chicken

White House negotiators and GOP lawmakers remain at odds over a deficit-reduction plan with only weeks to go before automatic spending cuts and tax increases are triggered.

3 Dec 2012

First Edition: December 3, 2012

For years, King/Drew provided emergency, trauma and inpatient care to residents from throughout South Los Angeles. After a series of medical errors resulted in patient deaths, Los Angeles County closed it in 2007. County officials promised the community a better, safer new medical center in a few years.

3 Dec 2012

Fiscal cliff: Dems, GOP sparring publicly over entitlement cuts, including Medicare

President Barack Obama is ready to entertain Republican proposals for spending cuts, but GOP lawmakers must first commit to higher tax rates on the rich and specify what additional spending cuts they want in a deal to avoid the looming "fiscal cliff," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. "The ball really is with them now," Geithner, one of the president's chief negotiators with Capitol Hill, said during appearances on five Sunday talk shows.

2 Dec 2012

White House fiscal plan draws cool GOP response

The proposal reflects Democratic priorities, focusing on stimulus spending and unspecified spending cuts this year, and legislation in 2013 that would cut as much as $400 billion from Medicare and other government entitlement programs over the next decade in exchange for $1.6 trillion in tax increases.

1 Dec 2012

US women lose their health insurance after divorce: Study

Each year, almost 115,000 women in the U.S. will lose their health insurance in the months following a divorce, finds a study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

1 Dec 2012

Supreme Court may decide gay health benefits issues

The justices could consider same-sex marriage, which would affect health benefits for federal employees and possibly Medicaid.

1 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Fighting to a draw on Medicare; A coming era of austerity

Since Nov. 6, Republicans have, for perfectly understandable reasons, expressed their deep disappointment with the election results. But even in defeat something significant and positive occurred: Republicans fought Democrats to a draw on the issue of Medicare.

1 Dec 2012

GAO: Medicaid payment information late, inconsistent

The Government Accountability Office's report examined two Medicaid databases.

1 Dec 2012

Mo. governor wants Medicaid expansion; Other states consider health exchanges

After mulling the controversial decision, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday he wants the state to expand Medicaid, a key part of the health law, but he faces substantial opposition from Republicans who control the legislature. Meanwhile, some states continue to wrestle with issues related to health exchanges.

30 Nov 2012