Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Could Medicaid Expansion Debate Turn Into An Immigration Issue?
Proponents of expanding Medicaid in Florida argue that a ‘no’ vote means that legal immigrants will have access to insurance subsidies while some U.S. citizens go without coverage.
Exemption Gives Some Texas Residents Health Law Reprieve
Community-based organizations work to educate residents on the federal law by walking them through the “hardship waiver” application process.
Corbett’s Final Medicaid Expansion Plan: Gentler, But Still An Outlier
The plan by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett would use federal money to buy private insurance for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees and require work searches or job training.
Missouri House Republican Files Medicaid Expansion Bill
A Republican House member has filed a bill to expand Missouri’s Medicaid program.
Dental Services Are Coming Back For California’s Low-Income Adults
Patients face serious challenges, however, including a shortage of dentists and restrictions on treatment options.
Colorado’s Elusive Goal: A Complete, Useful Health Care Price List
Making health care prices available to the public is difficult and expensive, and Colorado and several other states are in jeopardy of losing funding for their efforts unless Congress intervenes.
Libraries Serve As Health Insurance Info Hubs
In Philadelphia and across the country, librarians are digging into the details of the Affordable Care Act to help patrons sign up for health insurance.
Florida Moves To Manage Health Care For Foster Kids
Plan seeks to close gaps for more than 30,000 kids in the state’s child welfare system.
Regional Breakdown Of Florida Children Eligible For New Managed Care Plan
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Map shows there are 31,600 children eligible for the new specialty plan designed for those in the child welfare system across 11 regions.
Technology Helps Bridge Gap In Michigan’s Mental Health Care
Overwhelmed mental health professionals are using telephone consultations and other approaches to reach patients in underserved communities.
Telemedicine Bolsters ICU Care In Rural Maryland Hospitals
A new telemedicine technology, Maryland eMedicare, allows critical care physicians to monitor ICU patients hundreds of miles away.
Once limited to filling and dispensing drugs, pharmacists in California are increasingly providing direct care to patients.
States Accelerate Shift Of Nursing Home Residents Into Medicaid Managed Care
Insurers say that safety is their No.1 concern, but consumer advocates and nursing home owners are wary.
Gov. Beebe: ‘It’s Ideology Versus Pragmatism’
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe discusses his state’s experiment expanding Medicaid using a so-called “private option” strategy.
Arkansas’ Medicaid Experiment, Key To Obamacare Expansion, On Ropes
A decision to end the plan would cost tens of thousands of enrollees their coverage and have a chilling effect on other states.
Obamacare Thrives In San Francisco’s Chinatown
The immigrant community became self-sufficient by necessity, building its own hospital more than a century ago. Now, that hospital offers a health plan on Covered California that is exceeding its enrollment goals.
Washington State Officials Want To Lift Veil On Health Care Pricing
Gov. Jay Inslee and some lawmakers are pushing to create a public database listing hundreds of medical procedures, what they cost at clinics and hospitals statewide, and information about the quality of the providers.
A Small West Virginia Town Rallies For Better Health
“Sustainable Williamson” campaign includes 5K races, a community garden, healthier food and cancer screening.
Medicaid Expansion Only A First Step To Better Health In Troubled W.Va. Communities
Even as tens of thousands of West Virginians enroll in Medicaid, experts caution that the culture also will have to change.
From Ethiopia To West Virginia, Community Health Workers Help Close Access-To-Care Gaps
Outreach efforts in remote places like Ethiopia could offer models for medically underserved areas in the U.S.