Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Medicaid Programs Offering Long-Acting Contraceptives -- Right After Giving Birth
The New York Times: Medicaid Finds Opportune Time To Offer Birth Control: Right After Birth
Last month, Akia Gayle gave birth to her third child. Sixteen hours later, while she was still in her hospital bed, a doctor implanted a matchstick-size plastic rod in her left arm because she did not want to have a fourth. “To have it done right then and there — that’s good,” Ms. Gayle said. “I don’t want more kids.” (Tavernise, 10/28)
Earlier KHN coverage: To Curb Unintended Pregnancy, States Turn To IUDs — In The Delivery Room (Luthra, 10/21)
The Missoulian: Change In Medicaid Rule Makes Treatment For Sexual Assault More Expensive
Law enforcement and social service agencies who depend on the work that First Step does with children and adults who’ve been sexually assaulted or abused will pay more – tens of thousands of dollars more in some cases – for those services because of a change in Medicaid rules. First Step Resource Center, an office in Providence St. Patrick Hospital [in Missoula, Montana], conducts forensic interviews and medical exams, and collects evidence in abuse and sexual assault cases. ... For almost a decade, First Step has billed Medicaid and insurance companies to cover the partial costs of those services, and to lessen private payments. Due to a change in Medicaid regulations this summer, said St. Patrick Community Benefit and Care Transitions Director Merry Hutton, First Step can’t bill Medicaid or insurance any longer without employing a full-time, 24/7 physician to work on site. (Friesen, 10/29)
