Medicaid&theUninsured 070821

Desperate for Home Care, Seniors Often Wait Months With Workers in Short Supply
By Phil Galewitz The covid pandemic and President Joe Biden's agenda — a planned $400 billion infusion of support — have focused national attention on the need to expand home- and community-based long-term care services designed to keep people out of nursing homes. But the need far outpaces the staffing.

Biden Quietly Transforms Medicaid Safety Net
By Noam N. Levey and Phil Galewitz In a sharp shift from Trump-era policies, President Joe Biden looks at expanding Medicaid eligibility to new mothers, inmates and undocumented immigrants and adding services such as food and housing.

Hospital Prices Must Now Be Transparent. For Many Consumers, They’re Still Anyone’s Guess.
By Julie Appleby A Trump administration rule mandating that hospitals disclose true prices on their websites took effect this year. But compliance is spotty and even when the data is public, it’s hard to find and understand.

Hospitals, Insurers Invest Big Dollars to Tackle Patients’ Social Needs
By Phil Galewitz Eager to control costs, health systems and insurers are trying to address patients’ social needs such as food insecurity, transportation and housing. Yet, after years of testing, there’s slim evidence these efforts pay off.

A Family Wellness Check: California Invests in Treating Parents and Children Together
By Samantha Young The state will be the first to offer comprehensive counseling services to parents during pediatric visits as part of Medicaid.

At Texas Border, Pandemic’s High Toll Lays Bare Gaps in Health and Insurance
By René Kladzyk, El Paso Matters and Phil Galewitz and Elizabeth Lucas In Texas’ border communities, which are overwhelmingly Hispanic, covid-19 death rates for people under age 65 were double those in the rest of the state and three times the national average. They were also significantly higher than rates in New Mexico border areas.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Un-Trumping the ACA
The Biden administration is moving to undo many of the changes the Trump administration made to the enrollment process for the Affordable Care Act to encourage more people to sign up for health insurance. Meanwhile, Congress is opening investigations into the controversial approval by the Food and Drug Administration of an expensive drug that might (or might not) slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Insider and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Marshall Allen of ProPublica about his new book, “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.”

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How to Expand Health Coverage
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage — through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a “public option.” But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last month’s KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a very expensive sleep study.

Discretamente, Biden está transformando la red de seguridad de Medicaid
By Noam N. Levey and Phil Galewitz Los esfuerzos de Biden, que han sido eclipsados ​​en gran medida por otras iniciativas económicas y de salud, representan un cambio abrupto en contra de todo lo que la administración Trump hizo para reducir el programa.