Medicare & Medicaid
News articles in this section include actions by federal regulators like the CMS and HHS, as well as information on Medicare and state Medicaid coverage and benefits.
Unity was in the air on Thursday, as a trimmed-down cast of 10 Democratic presidential candidates met on the debate stage again and nodded to the stakes: the possibility of another four years of President Donald Trump.
The number of people in the U.S. without health insurance jumped by 2 million from 2017 to a total of 27.5 million in 2018, according to census data release Tuesday. It’s the first time the census survey reported an increase in those without insurance since 2009, before ObamaCare took effect and vastly expanded coverage.
Private insurance companies are expecting to pay out a record of at least $1.3 billion in rebates to consumers this fall based on their share of premium revenues devoted to health care expenses in recent years, surpassing the previous record high of $1.1 billion in 2012, according to a new KFF analysis.
Health insurers are now pleading with the U.S. Supreme Court to get it to make the rest of the federal government to pay $12.4 billion in Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk corridors program bills.
Democratic legislators are advancing a bill that aims to provide free health care to low-income undocumented seniors — an idea that they floated earlier this year, but which failed to make it into the state budget because of concerns over its cost.
Despite 52 amendments added to the legislation just last week, the California Senate voted 21-19 on Sept. 9 to accept the changes and approve A.B. 290, a bill aimed at restricting dialysis provider profits in the state and limiting the use of third-party payers, like the American Kidney Fund.
Nevada saw a 30 percent drop in the number of uninsured residents between 2009 and 2017 as a result of federal health care reform, but the latest data show its uninsured rate at the end of that period was still the sixth highest in the nation.
The CMS on Tuesday launched a redesigned Medicare Plan Finder to help Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers shop for and compare Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, the first major update to the most popular tool in a decade. The changes include an improved mobile-friendly design, as 25% of beneficiaries accessed the plan finder via mobile devices in 2018 and that number is growing quickly.
The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday published a notice asserting that health insurance companies face a $15.5 billion tax bill in 2020 if the ACA's health insurance tax resumes as planned.
In the battle over what Congress should do to end surprise medical bills, both sides of the debate are pointing to California's experience—and drawing different conclusions. A law enacted in September 2016 put a cap on out-of-network charges, tied either to the median in-network contracted rates with insurers or 125% of Medicare—whichever is higher.