Health Plan Watchdog Still Seeks Progress After 25 Years
The nation’s oldest private arbiter of what defines high-quality health plans turned 25 last year.
Kaiser Health News
2016 Health Law Exchange Enrollment Tops 11.3M
More than 11.3 million people have enrolled in private health insurance for 2016 under the Affordable Care Act, surpassing last year’s mark and the 10.5 million goal that the Obama administration set for the year, federal officials said Thursday.
Medicaid To Fund More Addiction Treatment
For decades, if someone on Medicaid wanted to get treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, they almost always had to rely solely on money from state and local sources.
Gaps Remain Among States’ Medicaid Efforts To Help People Kick Smoking Habit
That’s the main takeaway from a study published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs. The law says all state Medicaid programs have to cover tobacco cessation drugs — meaning they have to pay for things like nicotine patches, Chantix, nicotine gum or Wellbutrin, when patients are using them to try to quit smoking.
The 2010 federal health law has a provision that was supposed to make it easier for people on Medicaid to quit smoking. But in a number of states, it’s not, so far, having widespread success.
Feds Funding Effort To Tie Medical Services To Social Needs
The federal government has announced a $157 million project to help hospitals and doctors link Medicare and Medicaid patients to needed social services that sometimes have a bigger impact on their health than medical interventions.
Report: Home Care Workers Need Better Job Protections
A lack of oversight in the rapidly growing home care workforce could undermine new wage and labor gains for many of the nation’s 2 million workers, according to a report releas
Single-Payer Health Care On Colorado Ballot In 2016
On a brisk morning in Denver recently, an ambulance pulled up in front of a downtown office tower. “I think the patient is going to make it,” Dr. Irene Aguilar said as a team rolled out the gurney.
ER Doctors Say Federal Rules Could Raise Patients’ Out-Of-Network Bills
Two professional organizations representing emergency doctors warn that a new federal rule could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers when they need emergency care outside their health plan’s network of providers.
Push On To Make Transparent Medical Records The National Standard Of Care
Perched on an exam table at the doctor’s office watching the clinician type details about their medical problems into their file, what patient hasn’t wondered exactly what the doctor is writing?
Baby Boomers Set Another Trend: More Golden Years In Poorer Health
After the last of the baby boomers become fully eligible for Medicare, the federal health program can expect significantly higher costs in 2030 both because of the high number of beneficiaries and because many are expected to be significantly less healthy than previous generations.
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