Medicaid News and Research

RSS

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.

Uninsured patients could be twice as likely to die after brain cancer surgery

Uninsured patients who undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor could be twice as likely to die in the hospital as those who have the same operation but are privately insured, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. In teaching hospitals, where most neurosurgical procedures take place, those with government-subsidized insurance in the form of Medicaid were found in the same study to have rates of survival closer to those who are privately insured.

20 Nov 2012

Aging care: Hospices seek better image; New nursing home database released

People often have one regret about hospice care: that they didn't get it sooner. The hospice system has been caring for terminally ill patients and their families for decades; 42 percent of the 2.4 million Americans who died last year were under hospice care at the end. Now, hospices across the country are trying to rebrand and reposition themselves to reach patients earlier and erase the idea that turning to hospice is akin to "giving up."

20 Nov 2012

Studies suggest doctors, dentists can't keep up with health law's insurance expansion

Two studies find that primary-care doctors will be in short supply in the future.

20 Nov 2012

Aetna, Glens Falls Hospital announce new multiyear agreement

Glens Falls Hospital and Aetna today announced a new multiyear agreement. Glens Falls will remain an "in-network" provider of care for Aetna members.

19 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: 'Bad idea' about repealing Medicare cost board; Conservatives say health law repeal fight is not over

House Republicans like to talk about the need to find common ground with President Obama to make progress on important national issues, especially after the election. Yet within days, they were setting an agenda to eliminate an important element of his signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

19 Nov 2012

GOP, Dems signal willingness to work for accord on taxes, entitlements

President Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed Friday to move quickly on negotiations to avert a year-end fiscal crisis that has put markets on edge. ... Leaders from both parties and aides to Mr. Obama said they agreed to make concessions to achieve a deal. For Democrats, that included a willingness to curb entitlement programs, such as Medicare. For Republicans that meant a willingness to raise tax revenue. The question for each side, however, is how.

18 Nov 2012

Approaching the cliff: What's at stake for Medicare and Medicaid?

Medicare and other entitlement programs are in the mix as deficit deal-making takes center stage.

17 Nov 2012

White House meeting kicks off 'fiscal cliff' negotiations

News outlets set the scene for President Barack Obama's meeting today with lawmakers. Both sides say they want a deal, but privately, some Democrats acknowledge they would rather go over the cliff than accept a deal that raised too few taxes while cutting Medicare and Medicaid. Some Republicans feel that way about tax increases.

17 Nov 2012

Tidal wave of health law rules expected in days and weeks ahead

Also in the news, reports estimate state-specific costs and savings related to the overhaul's Medicaid expansion.

17 Nov 2012

State highlights: Texas pursues some Medicaid providers

It has been nearly a year since Texas officials accused Dr. Glenn Wood of overbilling the state's Medicaid system by $17.9 million through his business, Carousel Pediatrics. Dr. Wood denies the accusations.

17 Nov 2012

States declare their health exchange intentions

A number of states notified the Department of Health and Human Services how they plan to proceed on the question of setting up an insurance exchange.

17 Nov 2012

Study shows boost in access to screening for breast and cervical cancer

A study by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services indicates that full implementation of the Affordable Care Act would expand health insurance coverage for more low-income women, enabling more than a million women to obtain potentially life-saving screening for breast and cervical cancer.

16 Nov 2012

Employer health costs rise 4.1% -- slowest growth in 15 years

Employer health costs rose just 4.1 percent nationally in 2012 -- the slowest rate of growth in 15 years -- as employers offer more high-deductible plans and increase employee cost-sharing, a new report from consulting firm Mercer has found.

16 Nov 2012

Progress report on health exchanges: Will states, feds be ready?

States face a Friday deadline to indicate whether they plan to establish their own online health insurance markets, or allow the federal government to do it. Meanwhile, debate continues about whether delays in updating essential software and other glitches could delay the start of enrollment in the markets beyond the Oct. 1, 2013 target specified in the health law.

16 Nov 2012

The latest fraud target: Medicaid personal-care programs

Lax requirements for both caregivers and patients, along with poor state and federal oversight, have made the rapidly growing Medicaid personal-care programs an increasingly lucrative target for fraud, according to a federal report scheduled for release Thursday.

16 Nov 2012

Obama pledges 'substantive changes' to Medicare as part of budget deal

President Barack Obama told the nation's top CEOs Wednesday that he was committed to "substantive changes" to Medicare and other entitlement programs, but Senate Democrats are warning him not to cave on entitlements as negotiations with congressional leaders move forward. Also in the mix, health care providers lobby to counter possible Medicare cuts.

16 Nov 2012

Pelosi opts to stay House Democratic leader; GOP selects woman to House leadership team

In 2007, she became speaker - and the first Californian to head the House - overseeing passage of the most far-reaching healthcare overhaul since the creation of Medicare, an economic stimulus program, and the revamping of financial regulations, often with little or no Republican support. But while she - and her Democratic majority - ruled the House, she became a favorite Republican campaign target as evidence of what's wrong with Washington.

16 Nov 2012

Roundup: 11% of Calif. children lack insurance; Conn. Medicaid overruns drive budget problems

Children in California are more likely to be uninsured than children nationwide, with 1.1 million lacking health coverage in 2011, according to a new study by the Keck School of Medicine of USC. About 11 percent of children lacked insurance last year -- and they were less likely to seek medical care than those with coverage, the authors reported. The study, released Wednesday by the California HealthCare Foundation, detailed children's insurance trends over a 10-year period.

16 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Obama must tell allies that entitlements can't be excluded from fiscal deal; Medical device tax will thwart innovation

As bipartisan negotiations over avoiding the "fiscal cliff" draw nearer, many of President Obama's core Democratic supporters are urging him to fix the debt through defense cuts and tax increases rather than by tackling Social Security, Medicare and other federal entitlement programs. It's a reprise of progressive resistance to the entitlement trims Mr. Obama contemplated during the abortive debt-reduction negotiations with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) last year.

15 Nov 2012