Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Quest For Blood Pressure Cuff Highlights Inequality
For a West Baltimore woman, buying a blood pressure cuff means hours on the road.
Are States Obligated To Provide Expensive Hepatitis C Drugs?
New hepatitis C drugs boast cure rates of at least 95 percent. But states are restricting their use for Medicaid patients and prisoners because the cost is so high.
Burwell Says ‘Beat Goes On’ As HHS Seeks To Expand Health Law’s Influence
Despite closing the open enrollment just a week ago, the secretary of Health and Human Services says her department is thinking about next year already and hoping to make progress on Medicaid expansion.
Governor Seeks New Concessions From CMS To Maintain Arkansas’ Medicaid Expansion
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will meet with federal officials to negotiate the future of the state’s Medicaid expansion program, which leading Republicans say could be killed if it’s not changed.
States Simplify Medicaid Sign-Ups
Forty-nine states now take Medicaid applications by phone and 49 also accept online applications, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Hispanic Children’s Uninsured Rate Hits Record Low, Study Finds
About 300,000 Hispanic children gained insurance in 2014 from 2013, dropping the number of uninsured to 1.7 million, researchers said, and two-thirds of 1.7 million uninsured Hispanic kids live in five states.
Obama Seeks To Offer New Incentive For States To Expand Medicaid
The White House would like to extend full federal funding for three years to states that now opt to expand Medicaid, but Congress would have to approve any change.
Fueled By Health Law, ‘Concierge Medicine’ Reaches New Markets
Doctors, insurers and others are kick-starting experiments to broaden access to direct primary care, a service long associated with only wealthy Americans.
Slipping Between Medicaid And Marketplace Coverage Can Leave Consumers Confused
KHN’s consumer columnist answers questions about how people can handle moving between the government health plan for low-income residents and the private plans offered on the federal health law’s exchanges.
Last-Minute Deal May Resolve Dispute Over Managed Care Tax In California
The proposed compromise would avert $1 billion in budget cuts but still must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the legislature.
Medicaid To Fund More Addiction Treatment
Some Medicaid plans will now get federal funding for 15 days of inpatient treatment. But Pennsylvania fears the new rule will close a loophole the state has been using to pay for longer stints.
Turning To Medicaid To Insure Lowest-Paid Employees
A startup company called BeneStream helps businesses get their low-wage workers on Medicaid to meet the health law’s mandate for employers.
Gaps Remain Among States’ Medicaid Efforts To Help People Kick Smoking Habit
Even though Medicaid enrollees are more likely to be smokers than the general public, a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs examined state data from 2010 to 2013 and found wide differences in funding of cessation efforts.
Feds Funding Effort To Tie Medical Services To Social Needs
The goal is to improve health and potentially reduce spending.
Advocates Allege Discrimination In California’s Medi-Cal Program
A civil rights complaint says low payment for doctors results in unequal care for Latinos.
You Can Buy Insulin Without A Prescription, But Should You?
Versions sold that way are based on older formulas and make tight control of blood sugar harder. But they are cheaper and might save the life of a diabetic patient whose alternative is to go without.
California To Revamp Addiction Treatment For Medicaid Recipients
Through what’s known as a drug waiver, state officials will have new spending flexibility as they try to improve outcomes and reduce social and financial costs of people with substance abuse disorders.
More Women Getting Breast Screenings Under Medicaid Expansion
A study shows that women were 25 percent more likely to be screened in states that expanded Medicaid early.
Fight Over Medicaid Managed Care Tax Punches Hole in California Budget
Federal policy requires that California broaden taxes on insurers to fund Medicaid, but state insurers and many Republican legislators are opposed.
Medicaid Denies Nearly Half Of Requests For Hepatitis C Drugs: Study
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that Medicaid turned down requests for new expensive drugs to treat hepatitis C 46 percent of the time, while private insurers barred them 10 percent and Medicare 5 percent.
