Not-So-Happy New Year: Alabama Set To Toss Kids Off Insurance Plan Starting Jan. 1
Funding for the joint federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program expired Oct. 1, and Congress has not yet agreed to a plan to continue the popular coverage.
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Funding for the joint federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program expired Oct. 1, and Congress has not yet agreed to a plan to continue the popular coverage.
Dramatic increases in spending that came with the influx of newly insured consumers in 2014 and 2015 appear to be moderating.
The sticking point is not whether to keep the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program running but how best to raise the cash.
States that opt to change their Medicaid program must figure out how to delineate who is covered by the new mandate, how to enforce the rules and how to handle the people seeking exemptions.
Doctors are advising patients to be sure to fill medication orders now or are giving away drugs to make sure children have enough if their insurance disappears.
The policy change is likely to entice younger and healthier people from the general insurance pool by allowing a range of lower-cost options that don’t include all the benefits required by the federal health law.
Nonetheless, federal officials report sign-ups are robust so far this year.
The recent announcement by a top administration official that the federal government will entertain requests to implement work requirements for many adult Medicaid enrollees has raised concerns among advocates for the program.
Officials in marijuana-friendly states reacted strongly to new guidance from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions giving federal prosecutors leeway to crack down on cannabis.
Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tells state officials that she envisions changes that could include work requirements for Medicaid enrollees.
Tennessee and Virginia regulators are considering approval of a merger between Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System under their state laws. If they allow it, the Federal Trade Commission would be powerless to stop it.
States are adding a variety of services, including expansions of mental health and substance abuse treatments and dental care, according to a 50-state survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The strategy has been used mostly in Indiana, where many county-owned hospitals purchased or leased nursing homes to take advantage of a wrinkle in Medicaid payment rules and augment federal reimbursements.
Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program expired Sept. 30. Many states still have money in their budgets, but they’ll be worried until Congress renews the program.
Medicare is trying to deter overuse of hyperbaric therapy, and some experts question its effectiveness for healing diabetic wounds, one of the treatment’s fastest-growing uses.
Those relying on the federal government’s safety net are grandmothers, the kid next door, your supermarket cashier — maybe even you.
The shutdown, which raised protests from navigator groups, will occur from midnight Saturday to 12 p.m. Sunday on all but one weekend.
Employers report the sixth consecutive year of small increases, but workers at small firms feel the biggest pinch, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
Census Bureau reports that 28.1 million people in the country were without insurance in 2016, down from 29 million the year before.
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.
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