Montana Examines Ways To Ease Health Care Workforce Shortages
Bills before the legislature would license community health workers and make it easier for some other health professionals licensed in other states to do business in Montana.
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Bills before the legislature would license community health workers and make it easier for some other health professionals licensed in other states to do business in Montana.
Since the Trump administration began firing federal workers, they say they feel overwhelmed, have obtained or considered seeking psychiatric care and medication, and are anxious about paying their bills. And soon, their health insurance will run out.
It’s the Trump administration vs. the federal courts, as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to try to cancel federal contracts and programs and fire workers. But in the haste to cut things, jobs and programs are being eliminated even if they align with the new administration’s goal to “Make America Healthy Again.” Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Site-neutral Medicare reimbursements for outpatient care could help with the health care spending cuts. But hospitals are against the plan, which would require health systems to charge the same prices for services whether they are performed in a hospital or another location.
The request comes on top of a $3.44 billion loan that was proposed last week in order to fully pay the bills for the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, through the end of the year. Other Medicaid and Medicare news is on county-owned hospitals in Indiana, work requirements, MA cuts, and more.
Rep. Ro Khanna of California warned of Trump administration “cuts” to Medicare telehealth access hitting March 31. But if Medicare recipients lose telemedicine benefits that day, it will be because Congress failed to act.
TV personality, heart surgeon, and CMS nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz touted three reforms to fix the U.S. health system: giving patients more information to navigate the system; using AI to ease paperwork burdens on doctors; and combating fraud, Politico reported. But he would not directly answer questions about the possibility of cuts to the Medicaid program.
The Senate Finance Committee questioned Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. KFF Health News reporters discussed the biggest takeaways from the hearing.
Settling a lawsuit brought by a former applicant who alleged Texas Tech Medical School rejected him in favor of lower-performing students of color, the school said it wouldn't consider a student's race in future applications, and says it never did so. Also: calls for increased Medicare doctors' pay.
The Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government continue, with both personnel and programs being cut at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, the fight over cuts to the Medicaid program for those with low incomes heats up, as Republicans worry that more of their voters than ever before are Medicaid beneficiaries. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jeff Grant, who recently retired from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after 41 years in government service.
One initiative that has been scrapped would have offered some generic drugs to Medicare enrollees for $2. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has backed off hospice oversight.
President Donald Trump’s health team has deep financial ties to the supplements industry. Now they’re poised to boost its growth and remake the government’s approach to health.
Unnecessarily high radiation doses in scans have been linked to cancers. Under new federal rules, doctors and imaging centers have to more closely track and report the doses of radiation that patients receive.
Many patients ready to leave the hospital end up lingering for days or weeks — occupying beds that others need and driving up costs — because of a lack of open spots at nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. A few health systems are addressing this problem by moving post-acute rehab into the home.
Politico reports that a measure that was skipped in the funding bill would have prevented further cuts to the salaries of doctors providing Medicare services. Also in the news: a call for changes in the Medicare enrollment system; the impact of potential Medicaid cuts on rural hospitals; and more.
The Supreme Court opined for the first time that Trump administration officials may be exceeding their authority to reshape the federal government by refusing to honor completed contracts, even as lower-court judges started blocking efforts to fire workers, freeze funding, and cancel ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, public health officials are alarmed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ public handling of Texas’ widening measles outbreak, particularly the secretary’s less-than-full endorsement of vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Stephanie Armour of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis Wednesday. Other coverage from Capitol Hill and the White House is on high-deductible health plans, price transparency, Medicare Advantage lawsuits, and more.
At least 20 states have settled disputes with health insurance giant Centene since 2021 over allegations that its pharmacy benefit manager operation overcharged their Medicaid programs. Two holdouts appear to remain: Georgia has not yet settled, and Florida officials won’t answer questions about its Centene situation.
A special master found the Justice Department failed to prove wrongdoing by the giant health insurer.
The Purchaser Business Group on Health, which represents large businesses such as Walmart, Microsoft, and Salesforce, says hospital leaders shouldn't look to businesses to make up any potential Medicaid losses, Modern Healthcare reported.
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