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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.

Oregon hospital building boom slows down

"Oregon's hospital spending boom is winding to a close," as hospitals cut back on projects, Portland Business Journal reports. "Portland-area hospitals have opened, started construction on, or announced expansions costing at least $1.3 billion in the past 18 months. Projects include cancer treatment centers, cardiac units and pediatric care facilities.

28 Jul 2009

Hatch backs out of health reform talks, Pelosi says she has votes

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters Wednesday that he is "officially stepping away from health care negotiating table," FoxNews reports.

22 Jul 2009

Blue Dogs: We have agreement with House Dems on health bill

Work on the House health care reform bill is slowing as Rep. Henry Waxman of California and fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats have come to an agreement on Medicare payments, The New York Times reports.

22 Jul 2009

Young adults face tough time getting health insurance

Young adults are facing tough times with limited job prospects and no health insurance. The Associated Press reports on recent college graduate Emily Weinstein as being representative of the many young uninsured Americans: "Like millions of other uninsured adults in their 20s, Weinstein is watching Congress as it advances legislation to overhaul health care.

22 Jul 2009

Altering the course of schizophrenia with new research

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is launching a large-scale research project to explore whether using early and aggressive treatment, individually targeted and integrating a variety of different therapeutic approaches, will reduce the symptoms and prevent the gradual deterioration of functioning that is characteristic of chronic schizophrenia.

21 Jul 2009

House face-off looms over sweeping health bill

House Democrats, who last week touted their health overhaul bill after it passed two of three committees have fight on their hands this week.

20 Jul 2009

Americans living with no insurance, or less insurance, during recession

Decisions about forgoing care because of the cost for the long-term uninsured have been a way of life, "but for a sizable group, being without a job and insurance is a new, deeply distressing condition," The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

20 Jul 2009

Governors question Medicaid expansion while some states do more with CHIP

The New York Times reports that "The nation's governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them.

20 Jul 2009

With pressure building, Baucus, Reid weigh in on timeline

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Thursday that it is possible his committee could have a bipartisan deal by the end of the day, Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports (Yoest, 7/16).

16 Jul 2009

Senate panel advances health-care overhaul, but battle lines sharpen

"President Obama's ambitious drive to overhaul the nation's $2.3 trillion health-care system cleared a key Senate committee yesterday. But the administration was promptly buffeted by criticism from some of the industry players and moderate Democrats it has courted for months, calling into question the prospects for a bipartisan landmark bill," The Washington Post reports.

16 Jul 2009

Massachusetts hospital sues state over cost of universal care

"A hospital that serves thousands of indigent Massachusetts residents sued the state on Wednesday, charging that its costly universal health care law is forcing the hospital to cover too much of the expense of caring for the poor," according to the New York Times.

16 Jul 2009

Proposals may limit health insurance choices and squeeze some middle earners

"President Obama and leading Democrats have stressed that people who like their employer-sponsored insurance would be able to keep it, under a health care overhaul. But they haven't emphasized the flip side: That people who don't like their coverage might have to keep it," Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Jul 2009

House Democrats' health bill would tax rich to finance insurance expansion

House Democratic leaders Tuesday unveiled their bill to reform America's health care system - and insure an additional 37 million Americans over the next 10 years - to the tune of more than $1 trillion, funded mostly through an up-to-5.4 percent surtax on income for the wealthiest Americans, The Washington Post reports.

15 Jul 2009

New Hampshire's Medicaid program almost out of money

"Rising unemployment and spiking Medicaid and welfare caseloads have put [New Hampshire's] most recent budget to the test just two weeks after its adoption," New Hampshire Public Radio reports.

15 Jul 2009

How much health care for $1 trillion?

USA Today asks what the additional $1 trillion cost of a health care overhaul (over 10 years) will actually buy. "Although the eye-popping price tag would help boost insurance coverage to 95% or more of the public, it's not enough to do everything advocates initially want.

15 Jul 2009

Iowa lawmakers discuss reform and increased coverage for children

An overhaul of the U.S. health care system would probably help maintain improvements already made in Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver and other health advocates said Tuesday, according to the Des Moines Register.

15 Jul 2009

Medicare fraud taints California device maker and New Jersey clinic

A California device maker settles a Medicare fraud case while a New Jersey doctor and his office manager are accused in a Medicare fraud scheme.

15 Jul 2009

KHN's Eric Pianin discusses the House health overhaul bill

House Democrats released their health care reform bill called "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009." Kaiser Health News Correspondent Eric Pianin discussed the bill with Jackie Judd.

15 Jul 2009

Details emerge as House Democrats plan to release health bill

"House Democrats are preparing on Tuesday afternoon to unveil a full draft of their sweeping health care legislation, including an income surtax on the country's highest wage-earners to help pay the 10-year, roughly $1 trillion cost of the measure," the New York Times reports.

15 Jul 2009

Debate surrounds Federal system that rates nursing homes

A new federal rating system to track quality gives nursing homes mixed reviews. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare Web site, which compares the nation's 15,600 homes. There were complaints that the old site was unmanageable.

15 Jul 2009