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.

True cost of having a baby

For women insured through large employer private plans, the average cost of having a baby in the United States in 2004 was more than $8,000, according to a study released by the March of Dimes Foundation.

14 Jun 2007

Underuse of pancreatectomy in the United States

More than half of eligible patients with operable, early-stage pancreatic cancer don't undergo potentially life-extending surgery, suggests a study published online in the Annals of Surgery, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

8 Jun 2007

Congress urged to cover home infusion therapy for Medicare beneficiaries

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Congress to support the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2567), bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday by Reps.

8 Jun 2007

Policy changes have direct effect on nursing home care

States that set high staffing standards for elder care in nursing homes are the only ones that come close to having enough staff nurses to prevent serious safety violations, according to a new study by a professor in the UCSF School of Nursing.

1 Jun 2007

Surprising results found in use of Emergency Departments

There is some belief that Emergency Departments are being used for non-emergency medical care.

17 May 2007

Pediatric interventions at 1 to 3 age may have the greatest impact at preventing childhood obesity

Columbia researchers have uncovered a critical age when many inner city children become overweight or obese: between the ages of 1 and 3 years old.

9 May 2007

Medicis Pharmaceutical to resolve false claims allegations

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation of Scottsdale, Ariz., will pay the United States $9.8 million to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act with respect to claims submitted to Medicaid, the Justice Department announced.

9 May 2007

CMS should be more open about reasons behind denying States' plans for funding Medicaid

CMS oversight of state Medicaid financing arrangements is "consistent with Medicaid payment principles but needs greater transparency," according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Monday, CQ HealthBeat reports.

2 May 2007

Serious illness among children with sickle cell disease reduced with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

A vaccine introduced in 2000 has reduced by more than 90 percent the rate of a serious bacterial illness among young children with sickle cell disease (SCD), who are particularly susceptible to it, according to a new study that appears in the June 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and currently is available online.

2 May 2007

Racial disparities in treatment of patients with cirrhosis and complications of portal hypertension

African-American and Hispanic patients hospitalized for complications of portal hypertension were less likely to undergo a palliative shunt, prompt endoscopy, or liver transplantation compared to white patients, according to a new study in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

2 May 2007

Ohioans spend $62.2 billion on non-institutional health care each year

...while the Ohio economy loses between $2.1 and $5.8 billion due to lost productivity and other indirect costs of having 1.3 million Ohio residents without health insurance, according to research released today by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO).

2 May 2007

Asset transfers that would allow elderly to qualify for Medicaid rare

Most nursing home residents are unlikely to have sold off assets below market value to qualify for long-term care coverage from Medicaid, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Thursday, CongressDaily reports.

1 May 2007

Many NYC pharmacies fail to cater for people with poor English

Despite widespread capacity to provide prescription medication labels in languages other than English, few New York City pharmacies do so and as a result, limited-English patients face serious risk of medication error, according to a study by The New York Academy of Medicine presented at the annual meeting of the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) in Toronto, Ontario.

30 Apr 2007

Outdated policies are impediment for Americans with disabilities

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has helped increase awareness of barriers faced by people with disabilities, and advances in science and engineering have led to better assistive technologies that make it easier for individuals to lead productive, independent lives, outdated regulations too often impede access to health care coverage and assistive devices for many who need them, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine.

27 Apr 2007

Drug therapy can reduce preterm births and decrease lifetime medical costs

Researchers from MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH found that treating expectant mothers who have had previous spontaneous preterm births with 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17P) and reducing the incidence of another preterm birth would consequently reduce both short-term and lifetime medical costs in offspring by $2 billion per year.

27 Apr 2007

Physician ties to drug industry stronger than ever

Despite the potential for conflict of interest, virtually all practicing physicians in the U.S. have some form of relationship with pharmaceutical manufacturers but the nature and extent of those relationships vary, depending on the kind of practice, medical specialty, patient mix, and professional activities, reports a study in the April 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

26 Apr 2007

Medicare reimbursements at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center to continue

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that reimbursements for Medicare heart transplant cases performed at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center will continue uninterrupted.

24 Apr 2007

Nationwide survey of state Medicaid programs on "pay-for-performance" practices

In the first published nationwide survey of state Medicaid programs on “pay-for-performance” practices, more than half of all programs state that they provide financial incentives to health care providers for better quality care.

15 Apr 2007

Rising vaccine costs put kids at risk

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is alarmed that the soaring costs of vaccines combined with lower reimbursements from insurance companies will lead to the under- immunization of the nation's children and unnecessary outbreaks of preventable diseases.

11 Apr 2007

Full impact of mental health and substance abuse disorders on U.S. community hospitals

Almost one-fourth of all stays in U.S. community hospitals for patients age 18 and older – 7.6 million of nearly 32 million stays – involved depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia and other mental health disorders or substance use related disorders in 2004, according to a new report by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

11 Apr 2007