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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.

Officials in Detroit seek Medicare fraud suspects, charge some in Puerto Rico

Thirteen people including three doctors have been indicted for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to a statement Thursday from the U.S. Attorney's Office. The first indictment accuses Jose Lopez Diaz of charging Medicare more than half a million dollars for services never rendered at a medical center where he never worked. Lopez also is accused of billing Medicare for a procedure he claimed he performed on female patients that can only be done on men, prosecutors say.

3 Sep 2011

OMB projects slower growth in Medicare, Medicaid spending, but with a caveat

Federal spending on the nation's two main health care programs, Medicare and Medicaid, is projected to grow less than expected over the next decade, according to new estimates released Thursday by the White House. That's because the federal government has been paying less than expected in benefits - but the new estimates also assume cuts in doctors' payments that probably aren't going to happen.

3 Sep 2011

State roundup: Texas disability fight; rights of fetus asserted in Neb.

For Milla Powell, a 12-year-old from Austin with cerebral palsy, the little things make all the difference. Massage therapy to ease her tightened muscles. Recreational programs, in which therapists take her into the community to help her build her social skills. Music therapy to help Milla, who cannot speak, connect without words. But services like these are on the chopping block for thousands of Texans with disabilities - another casualty of the significant budget cuts that state lawmakers passed in May.

3 Sep 2011

Roche Diagnostics terminates sales and distribution agreement with Response

Response Biomedical Corporation today announced that Roche Diagnostics has terminated, effective September 30, 2011, the sales and distribution agreement between Roche and Response dated June 25, 2008. Under the terms of that agreement and related agreements, Roche Diagnostics had agreed to distribute Response's cardiovascular point-of-care (POC) tests on the RAMP® 200 Reader in the US.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 2 Sep 2011

Hospital growth slows, NLRB issues nursing home union decision

Hospital revenue growth continued to slow down in 2010 and is projected to cool further during the next few years... Median operating revenue and expense growth last fiscal year dropped to a pace not seen in the last decade, said [said Moody's Investors Service's] analysis of 401 not-for-profit hospitals that operate alone or within single-state health systems.

2 Sep 2011

NAIC members raise concerns about exchange waiver process

The nation's insurance commissioners are raising concerns about how much flexibility states will have to tweak their exchanges once the new insurance markets are up and running. Under the first set of exchange rules, released in July, states that want to alter their exchange plans would have to get permission from HHS.

2 Sep 2011

AmerisourceBergen completes acquisition of Premier Source

AmerisourceBergen Corporation today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Premier Source, a privately held company that provides consulting and reimbursement services to medical device, pharmaceutical, molecular diagnostic, and biotechnology manufacturers, as well as other health services companies.

2 Sep 2011

Investments in EHRs could reap major benefits in better patient care, health outcomes

Research published today in the New England Journal of Medicine gives cause for optimism that federal investments in electronic health records (EHRs) could reap major benefits in better patient care and health outcomes.

2 Sep 2011

Medicaid changes plaguing some recipients

State Medicaid program cutbacks are having an effect on care for low-income Americans.

2 Sep 2011

Health politics: Huntsman supports Ryan plan; Perry's thoughts on health law

I spoke with Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman on Tuesday evening, just as he was putting the finishing touches on his economic plan, which he announced Wednesday. Some excerpts from our conversation: "I embrace the Ryan plan. The content there is basically going to drive me forward in terms of debt and spending and how we get this country to 19 percent of GDP in health care spending as opposed to 23 percent. That is the model I would work from. I like what it advocates for Medicaid. I like what it talks about in terms of Medicare.

2 Sep 2011

Medi-Cal investigation of inflated bills yields settlement from Lab Corp.

Laboratory Corp. of America has agreed to pay $49.5 million to resolve a whistle-blower's allegations that the Burlington, N.C.-based company paid kickbacks to doctors and hospitals for referring California Medicaid patients, whose bills were then allegedly inflated.

2 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Perry's personal health policies; 5 state Medicaid strategies; medical illiteracy

When defending his 2007 attempt to make human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations mandatory for young girls in Texas, pointed out that both of his parents were cancer survivors and proclaimed, "I hate cancer." When asked to justify continued spending on abstinence-only education, despite the fact that it didn't seem to be budging Texas' high rates of teen pregnancy, he said, "I can tell you from my own life that abstinence works."

2 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Barrasso on employer insurance; Oberlander on austerity, Jennings on 'pick your poison'; Lamm on your mother

Most American workers value their employer-provided health insurance. It gives them the security of knowing they can get the care they need, from the doctor they want, at a price they can afford. All that will change drastically if the president's health care law remains on the books.

2 Sep 2011

First Edition: August 31, 2011

Today's headlines include details about the GOP tax expert who has been named to help run the deficit-reduction "super committee" as well as the health policy ideas Republican governors are offering in the context of the nation's fiscal fix.

31 Aug 2011

Bracing for deficit panel battle between defense, health interests

Meanwhile, home health advocates are launching campaigns to ward off more Medicare payment cuts when Congress returns to Capitol Hill.

31 Aug 2011

Medicaid news: Calif. providers seek more details on cuts

Several N.C. businesses will now offer employees the opportunity to use a well-known medical home network that has primarily served Medicaid enrollees. Meanwhile, in California, hospitals and doctors are complaining that the state has not given them adequate details about its plans to cut Medicaid costs.

31 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: States' anti-abortion laws; unproven cancer therapy; paying for retirees' health benefits

Since last year, 13 states, including Kansas, have enacted laws banning insurance coverage of abortion in the health insurance exchanges created by the federal health care reform law. Some states have gone even further, aggressively restricting abortion coverage even in private insurance plans sold outside the exchanges. ... These cases, some of which are being appealed, are testing whether the antiabortion movement will get its way. It shouldn't.

31 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 30, 2011

Today's headlines include a report about a new federal and state program that will apply scrutiny to any health-premium increase of more than 10 percent.

30 Aug 2011

Medicaid news: Texas Medicaid dental spending; Ill. providers hesitant on managed care

For the past six months, News 8 investigations have revealed hundreds of millions of dollars of questionable Medicaid spending on braces for children in Texas. Now federal investigators are auditing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which controls those funds. Taking the lead in the audit is the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

30 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Spotlight on insurance industry; local health costs rising; obesity debate

The GOP candidate's positions are not a vision of the future for the U.S. but of a discredited past. ... Perry's proposed fixes for the healthcare system - tort reform, individual ownership of health insurance, portability of plans for people who move or change jobs - would do nothing to slow the growth of healthcare costs or reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

30 Aug 2011