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.
Nevada residents who receive medical insurance through the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange face an average increase of 38 percent under rates proposed for 2018.
The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange announced at its public board meeting earlier this week that residents in 14 Nevada counties will not have access to Qualified Health Plans (QHPs). These are insurance plans certified by the Health Insurance Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act and qualify for subsidies to lower costs.
One of the key aims of the House and Senate bills is reversing the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid. But the legislation also would institute changes to the federal-state health program for low-income residents that could devastate states such as Georgia that didn’t expand Medicaid. Georgia already ranks 45th in the nation in per capita Medicaid spending, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin hinted that he, too, would probably oppose taking up the bill on a procedural vote expected as early as Tuesday, meaning a collapse could be imminent.
The 142-page bill would create a new system of federal tax credits to help people buy health insurance, while offering states the ability to drop many of the benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, like maternity care, emergency services and mental health treatment.
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) said Thursday that he has yet to make a decision on his support for the Senate’s bill to repeal Obamacare, but he said in a statement that he has “serious concerns” about how the legislation will impact those on Medicaid.
The first Republican governor who opted to expand Medicaid has decided that Nevada will not be the first state in the nation to attempt to open the government-subsidized health care program to anyone, regardless of need.
The Trump administration has made critical ObamaCare subsidy payments to insurers for the month of June but won't provide any certainty about whether they'll continue in the future.
As they scrambled to finalize next year’s state budget, California lawmakers this week abruptly dropped a plan to offer full Medicaid benefits to young adults living in the country illegally.
Emergency room visits by people on Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, rose 75% over five years from 800,000 in the first quarter of 2012 to 1.4 million in the last quarter of 2016, according to California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.