Medicaid and the Uninsured: Feb. 10, 2022

California Inks Sweetheart Deal With Kaiser Permanente, Jeopardizing Medicaid Reforms

Bernard J. Wolfson and Angela Hart and Samantha Young

The backroom deal with politically connected Kaiser Permanente, which infuriated other Medi-Cal health plans, allows the health care giant to continue selecting the enrollees it wants.

‘Somebody Is Gonna Die’: Medi-Cal Patients Struggle to Fill Prescriptions

Samantha Young

Problems with California’s new Medicaid prescription drug program are preventing thousands of patients from getting their medications, including some life-saving ones. State officials say they’re working on fixes.

Faxes and Snail Mail: Will Pandemic-Era Flaws Unleash Improved Health Technology?

Bram Sable-Smith

The covid-19 pandemic exposed how state and local governments’ severely outdated technology can hinder unemployment benefits, food stamps, Medicaid, vaccine registrations, and the flow of other critical information. Now, with hefty federal pandemic relief and unexpected tax windfalls, states may finally have the chance to revamp their information technology for health care and social services. But can they?

Justices Block Broad Worker Vaccine Requirement, Allow Health Worker Mandate to Proceed

Julie Rovner

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal rule requiring larger businesses to mandate employees be vaccinated or wear masks and undergo weekly testing. At the same time, however, it allowed a federal order that health care workers be vaccinated.

Left Behind: Medicaid Patients Say Rides to Doctors Don’t Always Come

Rebecca Grapevine and Andy Miller

States are required to set up transportation to medical appointments for adults, children and people with disabilities enrolled in the Medicaid program, and contracts can be worth tens of millions of dollars for transportation companies. But patients say the companies that deliver those rides are showing up late — and sometimes not at all — leaving them in bad weather, disrupting their care and even causing injuries.

Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws to Target Health Care Fraud

Fred Schulte

Investigators allege a Texas company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes accepted bribes in violation of 1960s-era racketeering law.

Georgia Bill Aims to Limit Profits of Medicaid Managed-Care Companies

Andy Miller and Rebecca Grapevine

Georgia lawmakers unveiled a mental health bill that would limit the profits of the managed-care companies that serve Medicaid patients. KHN previously reported that Georgia, unlike most states, does not set a medical loss ratio for the companies’ spending on medical care and quality improvements.

Wildfires and Omicron Prompt a Special Health Insurance Enrollment Period in Colorado

Markian Hawryluk

Disasters have previously prompted special enrollment periods in California, Maine, and the South. Now, Colorado is extending the state insurance marketplace sign-up period by two months.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Record ACA Enrollment Puts Pressure on Congress

Temporary subsidies helped boost enrollment under the Affordable Care Act to a record 14.5 million, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. But unless Democrats in Congress extend those subsidies, many of those new enrollees will be in for a rude surprise just ahead of midterm elections. Meanwhile, the need to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer further crowds an already tight legislative schedule. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Diana Greene Foster, author of “The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having — Or Being Denied — An Abortion.”

HHS Proposal for Marketplace Plans Carries a Hefty Dose of Consumer Caution

Julie Appleby

The Department of Health and Human Services issued preliminary rules regarding health insurance marketplaces that aim to deter fraudulent sign-ups for coverage. Experts say the agency’s action indicates a problem exists.

Colorado abre período especial para tener seguro de salud por omicron y un incendio forestal

Markian Hawryluk

Funcionarios estatales anunciaron la apertura de un período especial de inscripción hasta el 16 de marzo, abierto para todos los residentes de Colorado sin seguro, independientemente de si fueron afectados por el fuego o por covid-19.