Millions Eligible for Health Insurance Remain Uninsured
More than 15 million Americans who are currently entitled to free or subsidized health insurance are currently uninsured. Among them are 11 million who are eligible for Medicaid but have not applied for benefits and 4.2 million who could afford [...]
MedPAC Meets
Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. Among issues on MedPAC’s September agenda were: context for Medicare payment policy the effects of Medicare Advantage “spillover” on Medicare fee-for-service [...]
ACA Has Reduced Insurance Disparities
The Affordable Care Act is responsible for a major reduction in the disparity of insurance status among racial and ethnic minorities. According to a new Commonwealth Fund analysis, All U.S. racial and ethnic groups saw comparable, proportionate declines in uninsured [...]
Uninsured Rate Rose in 2017
The rate of uninsured Americans rose in 2017, the first such increase since implementation of the Affordable Care Act. According to a new Urban Institute study, The increasing uninsurance rate between 2016 and 2017 was driven by losses of private [...]
New Public Charge Rule Could Affect Immigrants, Providers
Legal immigrants may become reluctant to seek government-sponsored health care and providers may find themselves delivering more uncompensated care in the wake of the adoption of a new federal “public charge” regulation that seeks to define more narrowly the kinds [...]
CMS Introduces New Medicaid Opioid Management Guidelines
States must do more to monitor the prescription and use of opioids within their Medicaid programs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told them this week. In a formal guidance letter to state Medicaid programs issued as part of [...]
Can Medicare Feed its Way Out of Some Readmissions?
Feeding some Medicare patients after they are discharged from the hospital could reduce readmissions and save taxpayers millions, a new study has concluded. According to the new Bipartisan Policy Center report Next Steps in Chronic Care: Expanding Innovative Medicare Benefits, [...]
New Bill Would Address Social Determinants of Health
The federal government would provide funding to help address social determinants of health within Medicaid populations under a new bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week. According to a legislative summary prepared by one of the bipartisan bill’s [...]
ACA’s Medicaid Pay Bump Helped But Benefits Now Lost, Study Says
Health status and access to care improved for Medicaid patients when the Affordable Care Act mandated a temporary rate increase for physicians serving newly insured patients covered through that law’s Medicaid expansion. But when the mandate for increased physician payments [...]
Groups Seek to Block Medicaid Block Grants
Do not permit states to adopt block grants for their Medicaid programs, more than two dozen groups have asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. A letter signed by the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, COPD Foundation, March [...]
