Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Obamacare Lightens Load For Cancer Patients
People with cancer can now get health coverage even if they lose their jobs and insurance.
Medicaid Contractor Centene Was Top Financial Performer In St. Louis
The managed care company was judged the area’s most financially successful public company in 2013.
Georgia Looks To Reopen Some Closed Rural Hospitals As E.R.s
Georgia is issuing a new kind of license to rural hospitals to be stand-alone ERs. Many of these hospitals have had to close or reduce services in the past few years due to budget pressures.
Too Early To Calculate Success Of ACA Marketplaces
Did taxpayers get a bargain or a boondoggle on the Obamacare exchanges? Economists agree it is still too soon to tell for most of the exchanges set up under the health law.
Safety Net Hospitals Already Seeing More Paying Patients – And Revenue
Many inner-city hospitals in Medicaid-expansion states report big drops in the number of uninsured people for whom they provide care.
California Doctors Among Those Charging Medicare The Most For Office Visits
Billing data show that some doctors charge the government much more than their peers in the same specialty by deeming almost all office visits “complex.”
Employees: No Work At Obamacare Processing Centers, And Bosses Knew
Company and government supervisors knew that employees at the tax-funded ACA processing center in Wentzville were being paid to do little or no work, former employees said.
Texas Nurse Practitioners Look to Ease Supervision Rules
Texas lawmakers loosened some supervision requirements during the last legislative session, but nurse practitioners are still battling for increased autonomy in the state Medicaid program.
A Reader Asks: Will Using Electronic Cigarettes Affect My Insurance Rates?
Whether e-cigarettes are subject to the tobacco surcharge is a matter of debate.
Leaving Jail Doesn’t Have To Mean Losing Health Care
California is among 25 states to open Medicaid to childless adults, including thousands of ex-offenders. Covering this group is expected to save money and perhaps reduce recidivism.
By The Numbers: Mental Illness Behind Bars
There are now three times more people with serious mental illness incarcerated in the United States than in hospitals, and the types of behavioral and mental health problems among inmates are becoming more severe.
Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Expansion To Require 723 New Workers
The number of state workers needed to expand the federal-state health care program for poorer Americans is far higher than most states have needed — typically in the dozens, not hundreds.
Brew Pub Owner Frustrated That Health Plan Prices Still Jumping
The volatility in insurance rates irks a small business owner in Northeast Ohio, despite the introduction of the ACA.
D.C. Health Insurance Tax Triggers Insurer Pushback
All insurers that sell health-related policies would be required to pay the assessment, even those whose products aren’t sold on the exchange.
Cops In Conn. Train In Mental Health 101
The intersection of law enforcement and mental health has been a huge issue in Connecticut since the Newtown shootings. One department is training 20 percent of its officers to handle people with mental illnesses better.
California’s Small Business Health Insurance Exchange Off To Slow Start
The program, which provides subsidies to businesses with fewer than 25 employees, has been beset by delays and technical problems. “It’s absolutely making me crazy,” says one frustrated business owner.
Even With Obamacare, Many Latinos Still Seek Treatment In Mexico
Patients say they drive across the border because costs are lower, waits are shorter and doctors speak their language.
Missouri Medicaid Bill Wins Symbolic Committee Vote
Despite the procedural victory, even a GOP supporter of the bill does not expect passage of the Medicaid expansion plan during this legislative session.
Once Opposed To The Health Law, Now A Convert
One man’s opposition to the health law turned after the self-employed, self-reliant man bought a plan available through the law, which helped him pay his hospital bills when faced with a heart condition.
Some Obamacare Enrollees Emboldened To Leave Jobs, Start Businesses
A study says that up to 1.5 million people — no longer tied to their jobs because of the affordability of the health insurance that comes with it — may use the health law to leave their current jobs and start new businesses.
