Week In Review: HHS Begins Implementing Health Law, High-Risk Insurance Pools, States Struggling With Medicaid Bills
Today, we begin a new Friday afternoon feature: a wrap-up of the week's major health policy news coverage.
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Today, we begin a new Friday afternoon feature: a wrap-up of the week's major health policy news coverage.
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services confirms that some discounts states received from drugmakers will now be shifted to the federal government.
Former physical education teacher Andrew Jones, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, spent five years in nursing homes in Georgia and Connecticut. The 56-year-old was able to move out of the nursing home system in 2009 with the help of a federally-funded state program, known as "Money Follows the Person."
A program, known as "Money Follows the Person," aims to help elderly and disabled people in nursing homes live on their own and save tens of millions of dollars for Medicaid. But many states are having trouble finding affordable housing, and fewer than 6,000 people have moved. The goal is 37,000 by 2013.
The new health care law could shift billions of dollars from cash-strapped states to the federal government by changing the way Medicaid prescription drug rebates are treated.
In Kansas, cuts to Medicaid in-home services for the elderly produce quick consequences for some people who have had to move out of their apartments and into nursing homes.
Medicaid patients in traditional fee-for-service care get some services at two to three times the frequency of those who are in managed care, a preliminary state report suggests. What it doesn't say: Is that good or bad?
The White House released a copy of the memo sent by President Barack Obama to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on hospital visitors' rights, including those for same-sex partners of patients.
The TennCare cuts, which followed the resolution of a long-running court battle, affected mostly elderly or disabled residents, including approximately 37,000 who had relied on the state program for all their health care needs.
While doctors are worrying a lot about whether Congress will block the 21 percent scheduled cut in Medicare payments, a fix to another public health program is raising another question.
State officials like the amount of increased federal spending in the new health care law, but they worry that their costs could go up and their workload will become heavier.
Starting April 1, the first federal funding from the health overhaul law becomes available to expand coverage of Medicaid programs. Some states are seeking to use that money in current programs that cover low-income people who do not qualify for Medicaid.
Hospitals and drug makers are among the biggest winners in the legislative bonanza.
Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and Wisconsin are considering taxing hospitals to help pay for Medicaid. Those extra funds can also generate more money from Washington.
While the recession may be easing, California and other states across the country continue to face eye-popping budget deficits. As a result, states are cutting deep into public health programs, and dental benefits for Medicaid recipients top the list.
A new study shows that, compared to last year, an additional 2.6 million children are now enrolled in the federal-state coverage programs, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
A new study by federal officials finds that state, local and federal health spending has steadily increased. And, the nation's health spending as a share of the economy jumped in 2009 by 1.1 points to 17.3 percent.
Kansas is trying to cope with surging applications for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program with a staff depleted by budget cuts.
Legislation would restore Medicaid rights to citizens of the Marshall Islands and two other nations who have the unique ability to travel and work freely in the U.S.
Since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid nearly 45 years ago, the government has separated acute medical care from personal assistance and long-term care, placing many of the most vulnerable people in the nation at risk. An obscure provision of the Senate health bill attempts to crack that barrier.
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