Medicaid

Medicaid Expansion Alone Isn’t Enough to Stop the Opioid Overdose CrisisExpanding the state and federal insurance program helps prevent overdoses. But that only happens with enough treatment, and legal reform, to make it workBy Hannah L. F. Cooper, Courtney R. Yarbrough, Umedjon Ibragimov, Janet Cummings & Danielle HaleyPeople are seen outside a methadone clinic that is located across from Taunton Police Station in May 2019, in Taunton, MA. The clinic administer daily Methadone doses. Credit: Salwan Georges/The…

Donald Trump kicked off Monday morning bright and early with a wide-ranging interview on CNBC, during which he reminded viewers that a second Trump term would bring massive cuts to the entitlements they’ve been paying into for decades.  “There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting, and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements,” the former president told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” responding to a question about Social Security and Medicare. “I know that they’re…

Recent changes to Medicaid programs, aimed at closing a health coverage gap in the U.S., have left behind some Americans — particularly people of color.Among the non-elderly population in the U.S. — those under age 65 — insured rates rose during the Covid pandemic, with 3.4 million Americans enrolling in health coverage between 2019 and 2022, according to a report by KFF. That shift was due in part to the Medicaid and health care marketplace provisions put in place as a result of the Affordable Care Act, the report…

When Reid DeSpiegelaere, chief development officer at Every Child Pediatrics, talks about his work’s mission, he points to the name of the nonprofit organization, Every Child Pediatrics. “We see every child,” DeSpiegelaere said. “We’ve never turned a child away.” That holds true regardless of a family’s ability to pay for medical services, from routine check-ups, vaccines and nutritional guidance to behavioral and mental health care. Every Child Pediatrics primarily sees kids who are uninsured or on Medicaid, offering a…

Supporters hold up Save Medicaid signs during the Senate Democrats' news conference at the Capitol with disability advocates to oppose the Republicans' Graham-Cassidy health care bill.Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty ImagesNearly 3 million people have been kicked off Medicaid since Covid-19 pandemic protections expired in April, with three-quarters of those individuals losing coverage despite the fact that they may still be eligible for the public health insurance program, according to data from health researcher…

WASHINGTON—An unprecedented effort by states to review the eligibility of the more than 90 million people on Medicaid carries high financial stakes for industry groups, including hospitals that risk paying more to cover uninsured patients and insurers that could lose some of the money they get for managing state Medicaid programs. Eligibility reviews for people who get Medicaid coverage were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. The resumption of those reviews and disenrollment of people, technically starting Saturday, has…

One of the Affordable Care Act’s most hardcore and hardheaded opponents has finally struck down one of the most consequential and beneficial aspects of the law. On Thursday, Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that insurance companies are no longer forced to offer free cancer screenings, HIV screenings, diabetes tests, and anumber of preventative care options.Mental Health Apps Are a Privacy NightmareIt’s an incredible blow to the ACA, often colloquially branded Obamacare. Under the law, the U.S. Preventive Services…

An Obamacare sign is seen outside of the Leading Insurance Agency, which offers plans under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) on January 28, 2021 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesMillions of people in the U.S. are at risk of losing Medicaid this year when coverage protections put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic come to an end in April.To make it easier for these individuals to transition to other coverage, the Health and Human Services Department has announced a special enrollment period…

Amazon.com Inc said it is offering a $5 monthly subscription plan for US Prime members that will cover a range of generic drugs and their doorstep delivery, furthering the ecommerce giant's push into healthcare. The program, named RxPass, includes more than 50 medications addressing over 80 chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes and male pattern baldness, Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy's chief medical officer, told Reuters. However, customers enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or any other government…

The number of people in the U.S. without health insurance declined during the Covid-19 pandemic even as millions of people lost coverage through their employers due to layoffs.The uninsured rate in the U.S. for people under age 65 dropped from 11% in 2019 to 10.5% in 2021, according to a report released Friday by the Health and Human Services Department.By the first quarter of 2022, the uninsured rate dropped to an all-time low of 8%, according to the report. It then rose slightly to 8.6% in the second quarter of 2022,…