Medicare Medicaid Category

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.

Uninsured Rate Hits Lowest Level to Date, Boosting ObamaCare

The uninsured rate has dropped to its lowest level since Gallup began tracking the statistic in 2008.

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States Line Up To Scrutinize Aetna’s $33 Billion Humana Deal

U.S. insurance regulators and state attorneys general are lining up to scrutinize Aetna Inc's proposed $33 billion takeover of rival Humana Inc for potential harm to consumers, complicating what is already expected to be a tough and lengthy review by federal antitrust authorities.

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Health Insurer Mergers Will Pressure Pharma Over High-Cost Drugs

As the nation’s biggest health insurers jockey for supremacy, drug makers should brace for added pressure because doctors are likely to face stingier reimbursement over the next few years.

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Assembly To Consider Bill Capping Out-of-Pocket Rx Drug Costs

The Assembly this month will consider a bill (AB 339) that aims to cap out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications, Modern Healthcare reports

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Medicare Proposes to Pay Doctors to Have End-of-Life Care Discussions

Federal health officials are proposing that Medicare begin paying doctors to discuss end-of-life issues with their patients, six years after the “death panel” controversy erupted in the early days of the debate over President Obama’s health-care legislation.

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California Advocates Hail Coverage Of Children In State Illegally, Seek Inclusion of Adults

When Fabiola Ortiz heard California had granted health coverage to poor children lacking legal immigration status, she felt grateful. Since arriving in the U.S. illegally 12 years ago, she has taken her two youngest children to the doctor only for required school physicals and relied on home remedies for everything else.

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Special Session on Health Spending Opens

State lawmakers last week convened the first hearing of a governor-ordered legislative special session on health care funding.

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Health Net Being Acquired in $6.8 Billion Deal

Los Angeles-based managed care provider Health Net is being acquired by Centene Corp. in a deal valued at $6.8 billion. The deal could mean job losses at Health Net offices in Rancho Cordova, where more than 2,400 of the Woodland Hills-based health insurer's employees work.

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Brown Signs $167.7B Budget With Few Line-Item Vetoes

On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a $167.6 billion state budget that includes funding to expand Medi-Cal to undocumented children, as well as other health care implications, the Los Angeles Times‘ “PolitiCal” reports. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. The budget will take effect July 1 (Megerian, “PolitiCal,” Los Angeles Times, 6/24). Background on Budget ...

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Medicare Slow To Adopt Telemedicine Due To Cost Concerns

Donna Miles didn’t feel like getting dressed and driving to her physician’s office or to a retailer’s health clinic near her Cincinnati home. For several days, she had thought she had thrush, a mouth infection that made her tongue sore and discolored with raised white spots. When Miles, 68, awoke on a wintry February morning ...

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