Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Kaiser Permanente’s Ross: There’s No Effective Substitute For The Mandate
Murray Ross, a vice president in the part of the company that sells health plans, says the law’s individual mandate is needed to attract healthier participants, which balances risks and costs.
Medicaid Association Director: Uncertainty, Legislative Politics Have Slowed State Implementation
Andy Allison, Arkansas Medicaid director and president of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, is adamant that cash-strapped states won’t be able to do much to expand coverage to the uninsured if the Supreme Court strikes down the law.
Mich. Medicaid Director: “A Struggle” To Meet Deadlines If Law Upheld
Michigan Medicaid Director Steve Fitton believes it will be a “struggle” for his state to be ready to implement the health law on schedule if the Supreme Court upholds the measure. But he’s confident that Michigan can handle the expected new enrollees in Medicaid.
Oregon’s $2 Billion Medicaid Bet
Gov. John Kitzhaber, a former emergency room doctor, has convinced the federal government that he has a way to make Medicaid treatment better, and cheaper, by completely changing the way the sickest people in the state get health care.
States Encounter Obstacles Moving Elderly And Disabled Into Community
Some states are moving faster than others in getting people out of nursing homes and institutions as part of an ambitious federal program.
Minnesota Seeks Bridge Across ‘Affordability Gap’
Under the 2010 health law, millions of Americans will gain access to affordable health insurance. But in Minnesota, many are concerned that an affordability gap will remain for about 100,000 low-income Minnesotans.
Lawsuit Challenges Medicaid Managed Care Decision In Missouri
Missouri’s efforts to winnow contracts for its Medicaid managed care business are being challenged by one of the companies left out in the cold: Molina Healthcare, which alleges the state changed the bidding rules in the middle of the process.
Massachusetts Lawmakers Unveil Ambitious Plan To Cut Health Care Costs
The proposal for state House lawmakers would control rising medical costs by capping a cap on health-care spending and could include a tax on hospitals.
Poor, Sick And Expensive: Colorado’s Scaled-Down Medicaid Expansion
The state is one of just a few that is expanding Medicaid ahead of a major expansion called for in 2014 by the federal health law. Though the state estimates that 50,000 people meet the income bar, Colorado will only be able to offer coverage to 10,000 people.
Los Angeles Is Betting On One Crusading Doc To Turn Public Health System Around
Los Angeles has some 2 million uninsured residents. It has long had one of the most disorganized public health systems, too. Now, Dr. Mitch Katz is looking to reshape the system and match patients with their own doctors.
Head Of Community Health Center Group Critiques KHN Story
This letter, from Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers, is in response to Wednesday’s KHN story Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care.
Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care
Quality is uneven at federally funded clinics that treat millions of poor people.
Minnesota Medicaid HMOs Refund $73M To State, Feds
Four big Minnesota managed-care plans will repay state and federal taxpayers an estimated $73 million as part of a deal the HMOs made with Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration last year.
Video: Obama Blasts GOP Medicare, Medicaid Plans
President Barack Obama today attacked the Republican 2013 budget as a “Trojan horse” and “thinly veiled social Darwinism” — and defended the constitutionality of the health law. Watch excerpts from the speech.
Webcast Replay: Deconstructing The Supreme Court’s Historic Health Law Arguments
Our panelists, who answered questions from readers that even the justices didn’t ask, includes KHN Senior Correspondent Mary Agnes Carey; Stuart Taylor, attorney, author and KHN legal analyst; Tom Goldstein, Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and publisher of SCOTUSblog; and Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent, NPR.
Transcript Highlights: The Medicaid Expansion Arguments
Here are some of the highlights from the Supreme Court’s Wednesday afternoon session during which they pondered questions about the health law’s Medicaid expansion.
The Health Law And The Supreme Court: A Primer For The Oral Arguments
The fate of the health law is at the center of the most-anticipated arguments in more than than a generation. Here are key points to keep in mind while watching the action.
Free Health Clinics At A Crossroads
Free health clinics have long been places people turn to when they don’t have health insurance or any money to pay for care. But the health law’s expansion of coverage puts free clinics in uncharted territory.
Health On The Hill: Analyzing Ryan’s New Budget Proposal
KHN’s Marilyn Werber Serafini and Mary Agnes Carey discuss the budget Wis. Republican Rep. Paul Ryan released today and how it differs from the proposal he released last year.
Two (Very Different) Miami Hospitals Prepare For Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion
Even as Florida leads the Supreme Court challenge against the health law, a private and a public hospital are anticipating an influx of new patients who will be covered by Medicaid if the law stands.
