archive

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Shots - Health News

Texas Medicaid Debate Complicated By Politics And Poverty

Protesters march on the Texas Capitol in Austin on March 5, demanding that lawmakers expand Medicaid to include an additional 1.5 million poor people.

May 21, 2013 KHNIn Texas, it may be politically unwise to cross the governor, but some politicians and advocates in the poor Rio Grande Valley are starting to speak out in support of expanding Medicaid. Gov. Rick Perry opposes all parts of Obamacare.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Shots - Health News

Second Thoughts On Medicaid From Oregon's Unique Experiment

May 1, 2013 An influential study of Medicaid in Oregon found that recipients used more health care, spent less money and reported improved health. But the results of a follow-up study are less positive about whether people with coverage were healthier.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Shots - Health News

How Ideas To Cut ER Expenses Could Backfire

Wilfred Mobley pushes a patient to the radiology department at the University of Miami Hospital in Miami.

March 20, 2013 States' attempts to refuse to pay for seemingly minor emergency room visits can't easily distinguish between the cases that merit simple care and life-threatening problems, an analysis of emergency room data finds.

Summary

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Shots - Health News

A Costly Catch-22 In States Forgoing Medicaid Expansion

Outside the office of Utah Gov. Herbert Friday, Betsy Ogden lays paper chains on a pile symbolizing uninsured state residents who would be covered by a Medicaid expansion.

March 5, 2013 In states that don't go along with an expansion of Medicaid under the health overhaul law, many low-income adults will be caught in the gap between federal and state standards for eligibility.

Summary

Monday, February 25, 2013

Shots - Health News

Governors' D.C. Summit Dominated By Medicaid And The Sequester

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad speaks during a panel discussion at the National Governors Association 2013 Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

February 25, 2013 Since the governors last met in July, some have shifted their views on the federal health care law. A few Republicans have even changed their minds about the potential benefits of the president's plan to expand Medicaid.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Shots - Health News

In Reversal, Florida Gov. Scott Agrees To Medicaid Expansion

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, long a foe of the administration's health overhaul, reversed course and agree to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid in the state.

February 20, 2013 Florida's expansion of Medicaid will provide health insurance coverage to more than a million people. Florida will also become the seventh state headed by a Republican to agree to take the federal offer to provide Medicaid to all state residents with incomes up to about $15,000 a year.

Summary

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Shots - Health News

Few Public Family Planning Centers Accept Insurance, Yet

Health plans are required to pay for contraceptives, but the clinics that are common sources of family planning services aren't used to dealing with insurers.

February 19, 2013 KHNThe federal law overhauling health care requires that contraceptives be made available to insured women without any out-of-pocket costs to them. Many family planning clinics aren't yet set up to accommodate women under those terms.

Summary

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Shots - Health News

Defying Expectations, GOP Governors Embrace Medicaid Expansion

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, favors a federally subsidized expansion of Medicaid in his state.

February 6, 2013 Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he would seek to expand the state's Medicaid program under the terms of the Affordable Care Act a day after Ohio Gov. John Kasich effectively said the same thing when he unveiled his proposed budget.

Summary

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

It's All Politics

When It Comes To Entitlements, Obama Feels Heat From Left And Right

A protester at a fiscal cliff rally on Monday in Doral, Fla.

December 12, 2012 Despite his re-election and bolstered Democratic numbers in Congress, President Obama has far from a free hand to make a comprehensive deal with House Speaker John Boehner that would include cuts to entitlement programs. Strong resistance to that notion is coming from the political left — and with a warning.

Summary

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Shots - Health News

Feds Say 'No' To Partial Medicaid Expansion

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe speaks about expanding Medicaid during a speech to the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce in Little Rock, Ark., on Nov. 14. The federal government hasn't set a deadline for states to decide on their Medicaid expansion plans.

December 11, 2012 In the Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act ruling this summer, it decided that states' plans for expansion of the Medicaid program should be optional. That led governors to ask if they could expand the program in part but still receive federal funding. The administration has said no.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Shots - Health News

Health Care Cuts Are Coming: Here's Where Liberals Say You Can Slice

Two new studies and a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement all have the potential to change dollar signs as lawmakers address the impending fiscal cliff.

November 14, 2012 As the White House and Congress debate taxes and entitlement reform, an influential liberal think tank is offering what appears to be an olive branch: a plan to squeeze savings out of Medicare — long a target of GOP cuts — that Democrats can support.

Summary

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Friday, November 02, 2012

Shots - Health News

OB-GYNs And ER Docs Miss Out On Medicaid Pay Hike

A medical assistant checks a patient's blood pressure at a community health center in Aurora, Colo. Metro Community Provider Network has received some 6,000 more Medicaid eligible patients since the health overhaul law was passed in 2010.

November 2, 2012 KHNThe Affordable Care Act included a Medicaid pay hike for primary care doctors. It's an incentive for them to see the larger number of patients who will be covered by an expansion of Medicaid under the law. Some other specialists who say they also provide primary care won't be eligible for the increase.

Summary

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Shots - Health News

Democrats And Republicans Differ On Medicaid Fix

Isabelle "Simone" Svikhart, 3, has spent 13 months in the hospital for treatment of a range of health conditions. The Children's Hospital Association distributed a trading card with her picture and details of her case to lobby against Medicaid cuts.

October 2, 2012 Medicaid is likely to undergo a major change regardless of whether President Obama is re-elected or replaced by Republican Mitt Romney. Democrats support a much bigger program. Republicans have plans to scale it back.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Monday, September 17, 2012

Shots - Health News

Medicaid Helps Washington, D.C., Clinic Care For Ex-Prisoners

A Unity Health Care patient gets his ears checked.

September 17, 2012 KHNAfter they are released, former prisoners often don't have jobs or health insurance. The federal health law's Medicaid expansion could change that soon, though. Some states and the District of Columbia are getting a head start.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Shots - Health News

Health Law Gives Medicare Fraud Fighters New Weapons

With help from the Affordable Care Act, government fraud investigators will make more use of computer programs to detect Medicare and Medicaid scams.

August 21, 2012 KHNCriminals who defraud public health care programs to the tune of billions of dollars a year are now up against sophisticated computer systems designed to catch them. But the new efforts may yield far more leads than the current team of investigators and analysts can handle.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

NPR thanks our sponsors

Become an NPR Sponsor

Podcast + RSS Feeds

Podcast RSS

  • Medicaid