Pharmacies Thrive Selling Opioids For Depressed Small Town Pain
Prescription pain pills are strong sellers in this southeastern Kentucky region that’s long struggled with high rates of joblessness and poor health.
Indiana, Pence’s Home State, Seeks Federal OK To Keep Medicaid Expansion
Indiana asked the Trump administration Tuesday to renew funding for its Medicaid expansion under the health law, which is due to expire in January 2018.
21 Medicare Health Plans Warned To Fix Provider Directory Errors
Federal officials release names of insurers who ranked poorly in a recent review of their online directories’ accuracy.
Fewer Americans Paid Tax Penalty For Not Having Health Insurance In 2015
About 6.5 million Americans paid an average of $470 for not having health insurance in 2015, a requirement under the Affordable Care Act, the IRS reports.
In Towns That Lost Most Obamacare Insurers, Rate Increases Still Competitive
Premiums on 2017 plans are rising by comparable amounts both in counties where multiple insurers still compete and in those where only one insurer remains after several companies stopped selling individual plans under the health law, according to Avalere, a consulting firm.
Obamacare Enrollment Is Beating Last Year’s Early Pace
A record 6.4 million Americans signed up for plans through healthcare.gov in the first weeks of open enrollment – 400,000 more than last year at this time, federal officials say.
Lo que podría hacer Mike Pence con el Medicaid
El gobernador de Indiana, Mike Pence, fue uno de los 10 gobernadores republicanos que expandió el Medicaid bajo el Obamacare, pero como compañero de fórmula del ahora presidente electo Donald Trump, está pidiendo la derogación y reemplazo de la ley.
Pence Expanded Health Coverage As Governor, Now Threatens To Take It Away
Indiana’s Obamacare Medicaid expansion — with a conservative twist — may offer lessons for Republicans’ “repeal and replace” promise.
In Depressed Rural Kentucky, Worries Grow Over Medicaid
Low-income residents in poverty-stricken Clay County worry what will happen to their health care if Gov. Matt Bevin’s ambitions to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program go forward.
Aborto por correo: mejor acceso pero fuerte controversia
Un pequeño estudio está evaluando la eficacia de enviar píldoras por correo, luego de una consulta médica por internet, para que las mujeres puedan tener el aborto en la intimidad del hogar.
Abortion By Mail Delivers Promise For Better Access But Political Questions Remain
The experiment — involving 50 women in Hawaii, Oregon, New York and Washington — breaks ground by letting women get an abortion without visiting a clinic.
Millones podrían perder el Medicaid bajo el plan de Trump
El mayor riesgo para los beneficiarios del Medicaid proviene de las promesas del presidente electo Donald Trump, y otros republicanos, de revocar la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible (ACA).
Millions Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Under Trump Plan
But block grants face likely resistance from states, poised to lose many millions.
Insurers, Hospitals Clash Over Help Paying Obamacare Premiums
Insurers charge that hospitals and other health providers are using third-party groups to help some low-income patients buy marketplace plans, which bring higher reimbursement rates.
VA Shifts To Clinical Pharmacists To Help Ease Patients’ Long Waits
Some Veterans Affairs’ hospitals are cutting vets’ long waits for outpatient care appointments by authorizing specially-trained pharmacists to treat certain patients with chronic care needs.
Feds Find Doctor Listings Often Wrong In Medicare Advantage Directories
The federal government’s first in-depth review reveals errors such as wrong addresses and incorrect phone numbers riddle many directories used by Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.
Report: States Increase Cost Controls To Manage Medicaid Growth
Medicaid enrollment and total Medicaid spending are projected to rise more slowly for 2017, but states’ tab will grow faster as the federal government begins to taper its funding for Obamacare expansions, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports in its annual 50-state survey.
CMS Identifies Hospitals Paid Nearly $1.5B In 2015 Medicare Billing Settlement
A year after settling billing disputes with 2,022 hospitals for 68 cents on the dollar, the government has revealed who got paid and how much.
Obamacare Marketplace Shakeout Rocks Arizona, Southeast
Fewer choices in 2017 health care plans await consumers in dozens of markets where Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana are pulling out, but withdrawals may hit Arizona, the Carolinas, Georgia and parts of Florida hardest.
Administration Paints Rosy Future For Obamacare Marketplaces
Report portrays Affordable Care Act’s individual market as improving with rising enrollments of healthier, lower-risk consumers, a performance that clashes with recent complaints from some large insurers.
