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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 focus on Medicaid budget challenges

Nearly missed in the noise from newly elected politicians vowing to upend the Obama administrations health care reform law was a federal decision allowing California to start implementing it and improve its fiscal situation in the process. On Election Day, California got word it would receive $10 billion in federal Medicaid money to extend coverage to some 500,000 people who are currently uninsured. ...

20 Nov 2010

Insight Imaging acquires multi-modality imaging center in Roanoke, VA

InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a multi-modality imaging center in Roanoke, VA. The acquisition expands Insight Imaging's presence in Virginia to four locations.

20 Nov 2010

CMS grants Qutenza J-code to NeurogesX

NeurogesX, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel pain management therapies, today announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted a unique, Level II Health Care Common Procedural Coding System (Level II HCPCS), commonly referred to as a J-code, for Qutenza (capsaicin) 8% patch.

19 Nov 2010

AARP urges Idaho to put families, children & elderly ahead of special interests when tackling budget woes

On the heels of grim news from Idaho's Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee regarding a $340 million shortfall that could mean deep cuts to critical programs and services, AARP is urging state lawmakers to refocus the looming debate to protect the education and health needs of Idaho's families, children and elderly. The Association is calling for lawmakers to get creative when it comes to possible sources of needed revenue to stave off possible cuts.

19 Nov 2010

Insight Health Services sells seven imaging centers

InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. today announced that it has completed the previously announced sale of seven imaging centers. Six centers were located in El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico and one imaging center in California.

19 Nov 2010

Medicare committee recommends expensive drug for some prostate-cancer patients

A new treatment for prostate cancer called Provenge won a vote of confidence from a Medicare coverage advisory committee Wednesday, suggesting the federal program is likely to pay for the $93,000-per-patient medicine.

19 Nov 2010

Fla. Republicans want flexibility; facing shortfall, Idaho looks to volunteers; Mass. dental audit reveals millions in wasted funds

Florida Republican leaders made a clear statement during a special legislative session Tuesday: They want to overhaul the Medicaid program and don't want the federal government tying their hands. But that might ignore Washington realities. Congress this year required states to increase the number of people eligible for Medicaid in the future — the opposite of giving Florida more flexibility to run the program.

19 Nov 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb prices cash tender offer for $750 million

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today the pricing terms of its previously announced cash tender offer for up to $750 million aggregate principal amount of certain of its outstanding debt securities.

19 Nov 2010

KHN column -- the Texas Medicaid scenario: Why it's never going to happen

When I first heard about this controversy, I noted one simple fact that deserves greater play: This is not going to happen. Withdrawing from Medicaid would be political suicide.

19 Nov 2010

Berwick's first hearing marked by strong defense of health law, GOP 'relative gentleness'

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Dr. Donald Berwick survived his first Senate hearing yesterday by rebutting criticism of the health law and because Republicans were relatively gentle, The New York Times reports.

19 Nov 2010

Bipartisan task force recommends Medicare and Medicaid overhaul

Congress must overhaul Medicare and Medicaid and end tax-free health coverage to help bring the federal debt to manageable levels, a bipartisan task force said Wednesday.

19 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: The ObamaCare suit; Fixing physician pay; A federal takeover of Medicaid; Cues from Britain

The voters showed their loathing for the law on November 2, and a large, united legal front of states would increase the chances that the courts find it unconstitutional and preserve our federal system (11/18).

19 Nov 2010

Despite progress in testing Americans for HIV, lack of federal/private insurance impedes expansion

With projections that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates are increasing in some populations, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop -- who charted the nation's policies on HIV/AIDS following the first deaths from AIDS in 1981 -- today issued a stern warning to the public health community: HIV/AIDS continues to be a major epidemic and requires a national mobilization to identify and provide immediate care for many Americans with HIV who remain undiagnosed -- an estimated 200,000 people.

18 Nov 2010

MFA reports that senior and Medicaid markets drive health enrollment gains

The nation's leading health insurers saw an aggregate increase of 363,000 members for the first six months of 2010. Declining commercial enrollment was offset primarily by gains in products offered to seniors and growth in Medicaid business. Administrative Services Only (ASO) enrollment gained 1.4 million members from December 2009 to June 2010. All of the leading health plans saw year-over-year profitability improvement.

18 Nov 2010

CMS issues new rules to protect patients' right to choose visitors during hospital stay

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued new rules for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals that protect patients' right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including a visitor who is a same-sex domestic partner.

18 Nov 2010

National leaders to formulate recommendations for high-value health care system

With the 2010 election over and new Capitol Hill leadership arriving in 2011, it is important to continue the discussion about patient-centered health care. In a sustained effort to seek consensus-driven policies that would build a high-value health care system, the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center will host a symposium Dec. 5 entitled Achieving the Vision: Advancing High-Value Health Care.

18 Nov 2010

Health Net partners with DoD for Major Depression Disease Management Program

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, part of the Government Contracts segment of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), today announced its Major Depression Disease Management Program established in partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) for TRICARE beneficiaries, ages 18-64. TRICARE is the DoD's health care plan for active duty and retired service members and their families.

18 Nov 2010

March of Dimes reports decline in Colorado’s premature birth rate

Premature birth in Colorado has declined along with three key contributing factors, it was reported today by the March of Dimes in its annual assessment, the Premature Birth Report Card. However, despite these improvements (and for the third straight year), the state's overall grade is a "D."

18 Nov 2010

PerformRx awarded pharmacy benefit management contract by California DGS

PerformRx, a full-service pharmacy benefits management company, today announced it has been awarded the pharmacy benefit management contract by the California Department of General Services (DGS). Chosen as the result of a competitive RFP process, PerformRx will help the California Department of General Services provide efficient pharmacy benefit management services to portions of the state's population covered by DGS's statewide pharmaceutical program.

18 Nov 2010

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation launches projects to improve care, reduce cost

Kaiser Health News: "Promising fast action, the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is launching a series of initiatives aimed at improving medical care while reducing its cost, officials said Tuesday. ... In one initiative, eight states will participate in a Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the effectiveness of doctors and other health professionals working 'in a more integrated fashion and receiving more coordinated payment,' according to CMS, the parent agency of the center and a part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Nov 2010