Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicaid Enrollment Lower Than Expected; COVID Impacts Black Medicare Beneficiaries
Modern Healthcare: Centene's Medicaid Enrollment Is Growing Slower Than Expected Amid COVID-19
Health insurer Centene Corp. said Tuesday that its Medicaid enrollment isn't growing quite as fast as expected amid the COVID-19 crisis. Researchers widely anticipated that enrollment in the public insurance program for low-income people would swell during the pandemic as employers laid off workers, who they expected would look to Medicaid as a replacement for job-based health coverage. (Livingston, 7/28)
Modern Healthcare: Black And Dual-Eligible Medicare Beneficiaries Among Hardest Hit By COVID-19
Federal health officials say the most vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries are hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, with racial and ethnic minorities and dual-eligible patients experiencing the highest hospitalizations. A "snapshot" analysis of Medicare claims and encounter data between Jan. 1 and June 20 released by CMS on Tuesday shows Medicare beneficiaries made up more than 549,000 of the 2.2 million total coronavirus cases reported in the U.S. during that period, accounting for more than 160,000 hospitalizations. (Johnson, 7/28)
