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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.

States continue to confront Medicaid issues

CQ HealthBeat: "Hospitals and other providers are in line for Medicaid cuts later this year as state budget officers confront what many regard as 'their worst year yet,' Raymond Sheppach of the National Governors Association told reporters on Wednesday.

2 Dec 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Preventing hospital errors; myths about the reform law; Medicare and the independent payment advisory board

Greenbay Press Gazette: No matter what happens with health care reform, the principles we've been discussing the past few months still hold true. Health care systems should continue to focus on quality and cost.

2 Dec 2010

Physician-led models of care benefit patients, health system

To best meet the goals of optimized, coordinated patient care and also help curb health care costs, physicians should be the heart of accountable care organizations (ACOs), an evolving model of patient care. The American Medical Association today outlined recommendations to make this a reality in comments provided to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

2 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 2, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include news about how the debt panel's plan would boost costs for seniors on Medicare; how parts of the GOP are making clear their positions regarding health reform "repeal and replace" strategy; and how limited health plans faced critics at a Senate hearing.

2 Dec 2010

Universal Health Care's Medicare members offered Healthways SilverSneakers Fitness Program

In an effort to promote wellness and disease prevention to its older adult members, Universal Health Care will begin offering the Healthways SilverSneakers® Fitness Program on January 1, 2011, to subscribers of their Medicare Advantage Plan in 13 states (Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia). SilverSneakers is the nation's leading social support and exercise program designed to improve seniors' well-being and health.

2 Dec 2010

Employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums increase 41% from 2003 to 2009

Premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance increased an average of 41 percent across states from 2003 to 2009, more than three times faster than median incomes, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. Yet, insurance is buying less. The report found that deductibles per person rose 77 percent, on average. Higher premiums plus higher out-of-pocket costs are putting working families' budgets under stress across the country.

2 Dec 2010

States struggle with significant financial budget strains, especially in Medicaid; Others position for innovative coverage efforts

Bloomberg: "U.S. states expect 'significant challenges' balancing budgets in the next two years, after closing $230 billion in gaps since 2009, as U.S. stimulus aid drops and tax receipts recover from the recession, a study said. While state spending is set to rise for the current fiscal year compared with 2010, after two straight annual declines, governments will face renewed pressure in 2012, according to the study released today by the National Governors Association. The budget period begins in July in 46 states.

2 Dec 2010

UIC receives HHS grant to expand family medicine residency program

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine has received a $1.92 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand its family medicine residency program.

2 Dec 2010

Teva board authorizes $1 billion share repurchase program

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase (including through one or more subsidiaries) up to an aggregate of $1 billion of its ordinary shares/ADRs over the next 12 months.

1 Dec 2010

Health care models: Accountable Care Organizations, medical homes

Kansas Health Institute News Service examines accountable care organizations (ACOs): "In an effort to combat the lack of coordination that is widely recognized as a major shortcoming of the current health system, the new federal health reform law includes provisions intended to encourage wider use of Accountable Care Organizations or ACOs."

30 Nov 2010

Medicaid cuts hurt Miss. Residents, Calif. appeals federal order to reduce prison population amid health concerns

Parents across Mississippi say they are frustrated with state Medicaid officials as programs are downsized and benefits canceled.

30 Nov 2010

Today's OpEds: Transforming Cal. Safety Net; medical loss ratio; employee health benefits; nurses' role in future

It's time to prepare for the newly insured - and those left behind under reform. Estimates suggest that more than 8 million Californians may be uninsured today, and health care reform, once fully implemented in 2014, may provide coverage for the majority of those currently uninsured.

30 Nov 2010

Texas gives disability oversight to quasi-government authorities; Colorado rural ambulance services face crisis

Texas Tribune: "For years, the state paid private providers who care for people with disabilities to help the clients decide how many services they need and how intensive they should be. But an 11th-hour change state lawmakers inserted into the budget last session stripped the private providers of this case management responsibility, giving it instead to local, quasi-governmental Mental Retardation Authorities, who administer publicly funded services to people with disabilities.

30 Nov 2010

Advanced Data Systems receives eHealthConnecticut REC Qualified Vendor status

Advanced Data Systems (ADS) has been designated an eHealthConnecticut REC Qualified Vendor. Qualified EHR Vendor status assures medical practices in CT that ADS and the MedicsDocAssistant EHR have met the REC's standards and criteria for inclusion in the eHealthConnecticut REC.

30 Nov 2010

Support elusive for debt panel as Wednesday deadline nears

The chairmen of a bipartisan panel appointed by President Barack Obama are altering an early draft of recommendations to reduce the nation's debt, in hopes of attracting broader support, The Wall Street Journal reports. Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican (former) Sen. Alan Simpson "need 14 of the 18 members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to support their proposal in order to issue a formal recommendation, which could then be voted on by Congress before the end of the year.

30 Nov 2010

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

The Houston Chronicle: "Some Republicans who talk about Texas potentially opting out of Medicaid are quick to say the changes wouldn't throw people out on the street — but not House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts." Pitts didn't advocate the Medicaid change but "gave a stark answer when an audience member asked about an ill friend who is on Medicaid."

29 Nov 2010

KHN column: Replace the tattered Medicaid long-term care safety net

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Howard Gleckman writes: "Medicaid, the state-federal health program that also pays for nearly half of all long-term care services for the frail elderly and younger people with disabilities, is in big trouble" (11/29).

29 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 29, 2010

Today's headlines include advance coverage of Congress' lame duck session, as well as news about strategies surrounding deficit-reduction efforts and how they might impact health care costs.

29 Nov 2010

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Dallas Morning News: "Tea party members and other conservative activists pushed state lawmakers Tuesday to vote to nullify the federal health care law and get out of Medicaid, though one GOP senator said the largely federally funded program pays for nursing home care for the elderly and disabled and is 'not all bad.' … Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and dozens of others said the Legislature should declare the federal law void and also refuse to set up a state health insurance exchange.

24 Nov 2010

Today's OpEds: Medical students say don't repeal; 'Obamacare' waivers; The medical loss ratio; Medicare 'doc fix'

Here's the dilemma: The only way for the health-care industry to move toward accountable care is to further accelerate a process of consolidation that has already reduced competition and increased market power. … In such a market, government may be required to step in with more direct regulation and competition management than traditional antitrust rules now provide (Steven Pearlstein, 11/23).

24 Nov 2010

Medicaid News and Research

States continue to confront Medicaid issues

Today's Op-Eds: Preventing hospital errors; myths about the reform law; Medicare and the independent payment advisory board

Physician-led models of care benefit patients, health system

First Edition: December 2, 2010

Universal Health Care's Medicare members offered Healthways SilverSneakers Fitness Program

Employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums increase 41% from 2003 to 2009

States struggle with significant financial budget strains, especially in Medicaid; Others position for innovative coverage efforts

UIC receives HHS grant to expand family medicine residency program

Teva board authorizes $1 billion share repurchase program

Health care models: Accountable Care Organizations, medical homes

Medicaid cuts hurt Miss. Residents, Calif. appeals federal order to reduce prison population amid health concerns

Today's OpEds: Transforming Cal. Safety Net; medical loss ratio; employee health benefits; nurses' role in future

Texas gives disability oversight to quasi-government authorities; Colorado rural ambulance services face crisis

Advanced Data Systems receives eHealthConnecticut REC Qualified Vendor status

Support elusive for debt panel as Wednesday deadline nears

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

KHN column: Replace the tattered Medicaid long-term care safety net

First Edition: November 29, 2010

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Today's OpEds: Medical students say don't repeal; 'Obamacare' waivers; The medical loss ratio; Medicare 'doc fix'

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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