Medicaid & Uninsured

Last-Ditch Effort By Republicans To Replace ACA: What You Need To Know
By Julie Rovner
Republicans are making a concerted push to unite around a bill sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy that would gut major provisions of the federal health law.

Uninsured Rate Falls To Record Low Of 8.8%
By Phil Galewitz
Census Bureau reports that 28.1 million people in the country were without insurance in 2016, down from 29 million the year before.

For Low-Income Drug Users, Medi-Cal Offers A Fresh Start
By Anna Gorman
Under a five-year agreement with the federal government, California is using Medicaid dollars to expand drug treatment, including more inpatient care and a broader range of medications.

Congress’ Tight Timetable Complicates Renewal Of Children’s Health Plan
By Phil Galewitz
The Senate Finance Committee begins hearings Thursday on the program, which provides coverage to more than 9 million children and is up for renewal on Sept. 30.

Move To End DACA Leaves Some Young Immigrants Fearing For Their Health
By Barbara Feder Ostrov and Anna Gorman
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program made it possible for young adults who came into the country illegally as children to get jobs with insurance and, in some states including California, Medicaid. Now that coverage is in peril.   

To Insure More Poor Children, It Helps If Parents Are On Medicaid
By Shefali Luthra
New research offers evidence that coverage expansion policies for adults have a positive spillover effect for kids.

Climbing Cost Of Decades-Old Drugs Threatens To Break Medicaid Bank
By Sydney Lupkin
Medicaid spent billions more in 2016 than the year before on decades-old prescription drugs, including many generics, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows.

South Texas Fights Tuberculosis One Blood Test At A Time
By Wendy Rigby, Texas Public Radio
A Medicaid-funded effort in San Antonio seeks to test vulnerable populations for latent TB infections.

S.C. Taps Private Donors To Expand In-Home Services For At-Risk Moms
By Michelle Andrews
The expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership, financed initially by the federal government and several philanthropies, must meet specific goals to get state contributions. Officials hope to add 3,200 women to the program.

Counting On Medicaid To Avoid Life In A Nursing Home? That’s Now Up To Congress.
By Susan Jaffe and Heidi de Marco
Tighter Medicaid budgets could jeopardize states’ home-based services that help older adults and disabled people live in their homes instead of more expensive nursing homes.

Seema Verma Runs Medicaid. Her Husband’s Practice Won’t Accept It.
By Phil Galewitz
Dr. Sanjay Mishra, the husband of CMS Administrator Seema Verma, is part of a group practice in Indiana that does not accept Medicaid payments.

Medicaid Proves A Lifeline For Clients Of Crisis Pregnancy Centers
By Sarah McCammon
For pregnant women in the United States, Medicaid is less a safety net than a building block of the maternity care system.

In Massachusetts, Proposed Medicaid Cuts Put Kids’ Health Care At Risk
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
Doctors, consumers and politicians say big federal cuts to Medicaid funding would jeopardize the treatment a lot of kids rely on. The state would either have to make up lost funding or cut benefits.

AARP: States Lag In Keeping Medicaid Enrollees Out Of Nursing Homes
By Phil Galewitz
States are not doing enough to help elderly and disabled Medicaid enrollees receive services in homes and community locations instead of in nursing homes, where care is more expensive, AARP report says.

People In Recovery Worry GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Put Treatment Out Of Reach
By Ben Allen, WITF
In Pennsylvania alone, 124,000 people received drug or alcohol addiction treatment through Medicaid. Republicans in Congress want to cut Medicaid by as much as $800 billion over the next decade, leaving people in recovery wondering what will happen to their treatment.