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.

Breach of Obamacare Site Spilled Sensitive Data

More than two weeks after announcing that the Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov, had been hacked, the Department of Health and Human Services has revealed that the breach exposed a wealth of information, including partial Social Security numbers and immigration status.

Read More

Billions In Questionable Medi-Cal Payments

California’s Medicaid program made at least $4 billion in questionable payments to health insurers and medical providers over a four-year period because as many as 453,000 people were ineligible for the public benefits, according to a state audit released Tuesday.

Read More

Congressional Report Says Insulin Market Benefits Drugmakers and Insurers, Not Patients

“Perverse” incentives in the insulin supply chain lead to artificially high prices, as well as limited competition in the markets, according to a bipartisan report released Thursday by two lawmakers.

Read More

Despite Criticism and Concerns, FDA Approves A New Opioid 10 Times More Powerful than Fentanyl

In a highly controversial move, the Food and Drug Administration approved an especially powerful opioid painkiller despite criticism that the medicine could be a “danger” to public health. And in doing so, the agency addressed wider regulatory thinking for endorsing such a medicine amid nationwide angst about overdoses and deaths attributed to opioids.

Read More

California Nurses Move Their ‘Medicare-for-all’ Fight to the National Stage

The union representing 100,000 nurses across California has shifted its “Medicare-for-all” campaign from California to the national stage, perhaps relieving political pressure on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom to fulfill what the union sees as his top campaign promise: Delivering a single-payer health care system in the nation’s largest state.

Read More

Booming Economy Helps Flatten Medicaid Enrollment And Limit Costs, States Report

Medicaid enrollment fell by 0.6 percent in 2018 — its first drop since 2007 — due to the strong economy and increased efforts in some states to verify eligibility, a new report finds.

Read More

Gavin Newsom Is Bullish On Single-Payer – Except When He’s Not

Twenty minutes before the only scheduled 2018 California’s gubernatorial debate, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled into the San Francisco parking garage in a black SUV. Through the tinted windows, a soft overhead light slightly illuminated the front-runner’s chiseled features and slicked-back hair.

Read More

Trump Administration Takes Another Step to Allow Health Plans That Don’t Cover Preexisting Conditions

The Trump administration Monday took new steps to broaden the availability of health plans that don’t have to cover patients’ preexisting medical conditions, signaling that the federal government would support state proposals to promote more sales of these skimpier plans.

Read More

Marketplace Subsidies May Be Option In 2020 For Plans That Skirt Obamacare

States would be able to use federal funding to provide subsidies to people buying short-term health insurance policies, which typically don’t provide comprehensive coverage, under guidance released Monday by the Trump administration.

Read More

Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions on Health Reimbursement Arrangements

The Trump administration is proposing to allow U.S. workers to use tax-free health reimbursement arrangements to shop for coverage in the individual market. It's another move aimed at expanding consumer choices and lowering costs for small businesses.

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square