Medicaid News and Research

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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.

Raid of WellCare prompted by Medicaid fraud concerns

A recent raid by federal and state authorities on Tampa, Fla.-based health insurer WellCare was prompted by allegations that the company inflated mental health care spending so it could keep funds it should have refunded to the state's Medicaid program, according to a person familiar with details of the investigation, the Wall Street Journal reports (Won Tesoriero/Francis, Wall Street Journal, 11/3).

5 Nov 2007

Bipartisan measure proposed by Maryland lawmakers would include health care cuts

State lawmakers in Maryland on Thursday presented an additional $440 million in cuts from the state budget proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), including $32 million in cuts from Medicaid spending, the Washington Times reports.

5 Nov 2007

Medicaid pays for one-third of drug abuse hospitalizations

Medicaid paid for more than one-third of the 1.3 million hospital stays related to prescription or illegal drug abuse in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

2 Nov 2007

Heart attacks/pneumonia falls short of national goals

Emergency departments across the nation are failing to meet national goals in treating many heart attack and pneumonia patients, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers published in the October issue of Academic Emergency Medicine.

1 Nov 2007

Pharmacies, drug wholesaler file lawsuit against Abbott over price of antiretroviral Norvir

Four pharmacy chains and one pharmaceutical wholesaler on Monday filed a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories over the price of its antiretroviral drug Norvir, the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Oct 2007

Massachusetts increases efforts to enroll low-income residents in partially subsidized health coverage by Dec. 31 deadline

Massachusetts health care officials this month are boosting efforts to enroll low-income residents in subsidized health insurance plans as the state approaches the Dec. 31 deadline for all residents to obtain coverage or face tax penalties, the Boston Globe reports.

30 Oct 2007

Government restrictions on weight loss surgeries limit access for poor, underinsured patients

Thresholds limiting bariatric surgeries to high-volume centers disproportionately restrict access for poor and underinsured patients, populations which are among the most in need of them, an analysis led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows.

30 Oct 2007

UnitedHealth concurs with House panel that access to dental care lacking for child Medicaid beneficiaries in Maryland

UnitedHealth Group Senior Vice President Judah Sommer in a letter to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy agreed with a panel finding that thousands of Maryland children enrolled in the company's Medicaid plan were unable to receive dental care after initially denying the claims, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 10/25).

29 Oct 2007

5% of MRSA patients in U.S. died

One of every 20 (or 5 percent) of the roughly 368,600 patients treated in U.S. hospitals in 2005 for Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, died, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

25 Oct 2007

The cost of having a baby

The cost of having a baby, from the first prenatal visit to the baby's delivery, averaged roughly $7,600 for an uncomplicated birth, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

25 Oct 2007

The financial burdens of overweight and obesity among elderly Americans

What many Americans eat and how little they exercise could wind up costing them - and American taxpayers - some serious money. Moreover, the overweight and obese may lose months from their lifespans.

24 Oct 2007

Endobronchial valve improves quality of life in emphysema patients

Emphysema patients whose lungs are implanted with a pencil eraser-sized, one-way endobronchial valve experience significantly improved measures of lung function and report better quality of life, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researcher Frank C. Sciurba, M.D., reported today at CHEST 2007, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.

22 Oct 2007

Elderly Medicare, Medicaid patients not receiving quality care

If the care received by vulnerable older people concurrently enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid was evaluated on a grading scale, it would squeak by with a barely passing mark, a new UCLA study has found.

18 Oct 2007

AHF challenges Merck over Isentress AIDS drug pricing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has criticized Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals, for the announced price for its key new HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress (raltegravir), an integrase inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday, and priced by the company at nearly $9,900 per patient yearly.

17 Oct 2007

Surgical treatment of morbid obesity increases likelihood of patients returning to work

Obese Medicaid patients who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery may be more likely to return to work than obese Medicaid patients who do not undergo the surgery, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Surgery, a theme issue on bariatric surgery.

16 Oct 2007

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality expands research on therapeutics program

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the award of $41.6 million over the next 4 years for a new coordinating center and 10 research centers as part of its Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) program.

16 Oct 2007

Medicaid managed care enrollees appear to receive lower-quality

The proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care increased from 23 percent to more than 60 percent during the same time period,” the authors write. There is limited information in peer-reviewed literature on the quality of care delivered within health plans to Medicaid enrollees.

10 Oct 2007

Under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients

Once viewed as a panacea to the nation's health care problems, HMOs have fallen out of favor.

10 Oct 2007

OxyContin drug company sued for millions

A private company in the United States is being sued by a number of counties in the state of Kentucky over the potent painkilling drug OxyContin.

7 Oct 2007

Federal jury in Miami convicts company owner of Direct Nursing Assistance Inc

A federal jury in Miami has convicted the owner and operator of Direct Nursing Assistance Inc. of Medicare fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today.

4 Oct 2007

Medicaid News and Research

Raid of WellCare prompted by Medicaid fraud concerns

Bipartisan measure proposed by Maryland lawmakers would include health care cuts

Medicaid pays for one-third of drug abuse hospitalizations

Heart attacks/pneumonia falls short of national goals

Pharmacies, drug wholesaler file lawsuit against Abbott over price of antiretroviral Norvir

Massachusetts increases efforts to enroll low-income residents in partially subsidized health coverage by Dec. 31 deadline

Government restrictions on weight loss surgeries limit access for poor, underinsured patients

UnitedHealth concurs with House panel that access to dental care lacking for child Medicaid beneficiaries in Maryland

5% of MRSA patients in U.S. died

The cost of having a baby

The financial burdens of overweight and obesity among elderly Americans

Endobronchial valve improves quality of life in emphysema patients

Elderly Medicare, Medicaid patients not receiving quality care

AHF challenges Merck over Isentress AIDS drug pricing

Surgical treatment of morbid obesity increases likelihood of patients returning to work

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality expands research on therapeutics program

Medicaid managed care enrollees appear to receive lower-quality

Under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients

OxyContin drug company sued for millions

Federal jury in Miami convicts company owner of Direct Nursing Assistance Inc

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