Category: CMS

In states that decide not to expand Medicaid under the health law, more than 5 million people may be left without coverage. Oregon’s expansion has already lowered the number of people there without coverage. Exchange issues are also examined in Maryland, Florida, Ohio and Alabama. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131019/Medicaid-coverage-gap-causing-anxiety-in-non-expansion-states-especially-in-the-south.aspx

Community health centers in states that have rejected the Medicaid expansion under the health law will lose out on a half billion dollars in new revenue in 2014 that could hamper their ability to serve millions of uninsured people seeking care, according to a study from George Washington University. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131018/State-Medicaid-decisions-hurt-community-health-centers-serving-neediest.aspx

Some Ohio lawmakers push back against Gov. John Kasich’s move to bypass the legislature to expand Medicaid, and New Hampshire legislators plan to meet next month to hammer out what leaders hope will be a bipartisan deal to expand the state-federal program for the poor. Meanwhile, likely Virginia voters support expansion 51 percent to 42…

A seven-member state committee holds the fate of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion in its hands as it prepares to vote on the proposal, and no one is talking about how they plan to vote. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131016/Ohio-board-readies-decision-on-states-Medicaid-expansion.aspx

After trying unsuccessfully to get Medicaid expansion through the state legislature, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is asking a bipartisan board to expand the program under the federal health law. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131015/Ohio-Gov-needs-one-more-vote-to-expand-Medicaid.aspx

New research shows that having access to data from a health information exchange (HIE) improved the quality of emergency care and saved more than $1 million in patient charges, or nearly $2,000 per patient, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians. New research shows that having…

New estimates released 9/18/13 from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that aggregate health care spending in the United States will grow at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent for 2012-22, or 1.0 percentage point faster than the expected growth in the gross domestic product. From:…

State public health departments do not necessarily lose funding when merged with larger Medicaid programs, according to a just-released study. The findings from this first-of-a-kind research should help allay concerns that when such mergers occur they automatically lead to cutbacks in public health, says lead author Paula Lantz, PhD, who is chair of the Department…

Once those threats are removed, however, there is plenty to discuss: how to replace the sequester cuts, which are already devastating domestic programs and are about to get much worse for defense spending; how to use fiscal policy to stimulate the creation of jobs and fix the nation’s infrastructure; how to repair a broken tax…

On October 7 at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) conference in a packed room at the San Diego Convention Center that included a standing-room-only audience, practice executives representing three medical groups currently participating in a Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) program—established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—shared experiences, insights, and challenges…