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Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too. Hospital leaders say now is not a good time for the cuts ā which lawmakers have so far postponed 13 times.
House Republican legislation promises more health insurance options but fewer protections, even as the Biden administration seeks to rein in short-term plans, which were expanded in the Trump era.
Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
Doctors and hospitals hold an exalted position in American life, retaining public confidence even as other institutions such as government, law enforcement, and the media are losing peopleās trust. But with health care debt out of hand, medical providers risk their good standing.
As politicians bash privately run hospitals for their aggressive debt collection tactics, consumer advocates say one North Carolina familyās six-figure medical bill is an example of how state attorneys general and state-operated hospitals also can harm patients financially.
The Food and Drug Administrationās approval is viewed as groundbreaking, but many details still must be figured out.
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforteās veto disappointed and bewildered those seeking to address low-income residentsā long wait for assisted living or in-home care.
President Biden made good on a campaign promise this week with a proposal that would limit short-term health insurance plans that boast low premiums but also few benefits. Meanwhile, the Supreme Courtās decision to outlaw affirmative action programs could set back efforts to diversify the nationās medical workforce. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Bram Sable-Smith, who reported the latest Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News-NPR āBill of the Monthā about how a hospital couldnāt track down a patient, but a debt collector could.
The state now requires Medicaid to cover midwife services and has expanded the list of prescription drugs midwives can administer.
When Medi-Cal beneficiary Lloyd Tennison moved last year from Contra Costa County to San Joaquin County, he was bumped off his managed care plan without notice before his new coverage took effect. His case highlights a chronic issue in Californiaās fragmented Medicaid program.
Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereās a collection of their appearances.
A new report boosts the estimated number of people enrolled in plans whose members ā usually brought together by shared religious beliefs ā pay one anotherās health costs.
Homeless people are being fraudulently enrolled in health plans on the Affordable Care Actās marketplace, induced with cash payments from insurance agents and brokers. Those who sign up for an ACA plan are disqualified from other forms of free and low-cost care and risk disruption in treatment.
Annie Malloy, of San Diego, is among the first to receive a new housing move-in benefit from Medi-Cal, Californiaās Medicaid program. Itās an effort to help homeless and near-homeless people who might otherwise rack up huge medical bills.
The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. governmentās borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance programās new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health News-NPR āBill of the Monthā feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.
The billion-dollar amount cited by former Sen. Al Franken, while an estimate, is likely very close to what insurers will owe this year under a provision of the Affordable Care Act that compels rebates when insurers spend too little on actual medical care.
UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer in the United States. And it keeps growing. This has led some health care experts to call for antitrust regulation of this ābehemothā company.
A bipartisan deal to raise the governmentās borrowing limit dashed Republican hopes for new Medicaid work requirements and other health spending cuts. Democrats secured the compromise by making relatively modest concessions, including ordering the return of unspent covid funds and limiting other health spending.
When Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā āWhat the Health?ā podcast launched in 2017, Republicans in Washington were engaged in an (ultimately unsuccessful) campaign to ārepeal and replaceā the Affordable Care Act. The next six years would see a pandemic, increasingly unaffordable care, and a health care workforce experiencing unprecedented burnout. In the podcastās 300th episode, host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner explores the past and possible future of the U.S. health care system with three prominent ābig thinkersā in health policy: Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania, Jeff Goldsmith of Health Futures, and Farzad Mostashari of Aledade.
In whatās known as the Medicaid āunwinding,ā states are combing through rolls to decide who stays and who goes. But the overwhelming majority of people who have lost coverage so far were dropped because of technicalities, not because officials determined they are no longer eligible.
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