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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.

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Teva's NOMAC-E2 contraceptive pill

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion for NOMAC-E2, an investigational contraceptive pill combining 1.5 mg of 17-beta-estradiol with 2.5 mg of nomegestrol acetate in a 24/4 monophasic regimen.

18 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 18, 2011

Today's headlines include news about events planned to mark the health law's first anniversary as well as other developments related to the measure's implementatioin and the budget issues Congress continues to wrestle.

18 Mar 2011

Senate Finance Committee hearing marked by detailed policy discussions

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified before the panel where she defended the health law waivers so far granted by the administration and other aspects of the overhaul that have been subject to scrutiny and criticism.

18 Mar 2011

Medicare officials signal no payment changes on anemia drugs

Medicare officials signaled Wednesday that they will not change a payment policy for biotech drugs made by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson when they are used to treat anemia in kidney disease patients, despite data suggesting heart risks for those patients.

18 Mar 2011

Longer looks: Health policy picks that will fascinate, captivate

Thirty-four states have some type of HIV-criminalization law. Depending on the state, it may be illegal to expose someone else to HIV, transmit the virus or conceal your own HIV-positive status from potential sexual partners. This criminalization extends even to cases in which condoms were used or when the virus was not transmitted, as well as to acts, such as spitting or biting, that pose minuscule to no risk.

18 Mar 2011

Non-adherence to chronic opioid therapy increases healthcare costs and hospital days

Patients undergoing opioid therapy for chronic pain who may not be following their prescription regimen have significantly higher overall healthcare costs, Ameritox Ltd. announced recently. The study was published in The American Journal of Managed Care.

18 Mar 2011

At the one-year mark, implications of health law emerge

Media outlets report on a range of issues related to implementation of the health law and its one-year anniversary — among them, the unexpected importance taken on by waivers, the marketplace impact on health insurance brokers, the geography of the health care workforce issues likely to result from coverage expansions and the continuing problems faced by lawmakers who are trying to repeal the measure's 1099 reporting provision.

18 Mar 2011

ACP: Increase in internal medicine enrollment can ease primary care workforce shortage

The increase in the number of U.S. medical students choosing internal medicine residencies in 2011 is a positive sign toward easing the primary care workforce shortage, according to the American College of Physicians, the nation's second-largest doctors group.

18 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Houston's 'painful' E.R. decision; Arizona's 'war' on kids' health care; protecting elders from abuse

Women are the majority of public-sector employees at the state and local levels and have already lost 320,000 public-sector jobs in the past two years. In addition, the GOP majority is attempting to defund Title X services, which have connected millions of American women to health care since 1970.

18 Mar 2011

New IAF study identifies ten states as 'diabetes hot spots'

A new study conducted by the Institute for Alternative Futures identified California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan as "diabetes hot spots," where the burden of diabetes will be greatest in the next 15 years.

18 Mar 2011

Roundup: Cuts in Calif. programs; Ga. seeks federal MLR waiver; N.J. lawmakers try to restore some health funding

State lawmakers Wednesday approved billions of dollars in cuts to welfare, medical programs for the poor and in-home care for the elderly and frail, among other services, moving forward key pieces of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget reduction package.

18 Mar 2011

Home care and hospice nurses, aides and providers march on Washington to ensure the right of every American to be cared for in their home

Hundreds of home care and hospice providers will arrive in that nation’s capitol to keep the fight alive for the critical, high-value, high-quality care that is delivered every day to some of the nation’s most vulnerable individuals.

17 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 17, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about a new GAO report showing success in health insurer appeals and a decision by Blue Shield of California to retreat from proposed rate increases.

17 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Wis. Medicaid dilemma; an army doc's Rx for cutting costs; Rep. Boren on repeal

These slipshod exercises in governance were choreographed by House Republicans, who knew that neither the Senate nor President Obama would ever accept their original proposal to gut nonsecurity discretionary spending with $61 billion in cuts through September, including riders to end financing for Planned Parenthood and the health care law.

17 Mar 2011

State Medicaid budgets face serious cuts, funding battles

New reports highlight plans to cut the Medicaid program in New York, Ohio and Arizona.

17 Mar 2011

State roundup: Moving ahead on exchanges; Ga. training minority docs

House Majority Leader Amy Stephens is no fan of "Obamacare." So Stephens, at first glance, seemed an unlikely co-sponsor of legislation that would enact one of the key tenets of health reform: the requirement that states set up health insurance "exchanges," marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can shop for insurance.

17 Mar 2011