Medicaid

Cashiers, cooks, delivery people, fast-food workers and their supporters rallied outside New York City Hall in 2017. Their influential union, the Service Employees International Union, also includes about half a million home health aides.

Medicaid Officials Target Home Health Aides' Union Dues

5:00am August 09, 2018

by Shefali Luthra

The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would prohibit some home health workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks. The rule would likely undercut unions' power, all agree.

Drug costs are the fastest growing part of state Medicaid budgets.

States Question Costs Of Middlemen That Manage Medicaid Drug Benefits

11:20am August 08, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

Companies that negotiate drug prices for insurance plans keep a big cut of the money. In Ohio, a battle is brewing over whether their services are worth the cost.

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In the mountain town of Juyaya, Puerto Rico, last October, children watched as U.S. Army helicopters brought a team of physicians to assess the medical needs of the local hospital and residents. Going forward, health economists say, the U.S. territory wil

Puerto Rico's Wounded Medicaid Program Faces Even Deeper Cuts

5:23pm August 01, 2018

State Medicaid programs already get much more money from the federal government than Puerto Rico Medicaid gets — and the storm-ravaged U.S. territory's safety net for the poor is barely hanging on.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey speaks about a variety of issues during an interview in his office at the Arizona Capitol in May 2018, in Phoenix.

Health & Safety

Arizona Governor Takes Steps To Blunt Industry Influence On Medicaid

4:45pm July 27, 2018

by Liz Essley Whyte

After an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and NPR into conflicts of interest in Medicaid decisions about drugs, Arizona's governor added new transparency rules.

Drug companies have infiltrated nearly every part of the process that determines how their drugs will be covered by Medicaid.

Health & Safety

Investigation: Patients' Drug Options Under Medicaid Heavily Influenced By Drugmakers

11:18am July 18, 2018

Drug companies have infiltrated nearly every part of the process that determines how their drugs will be covered by Medicaid, an investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity finds.

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Juan Lopez Aguilar (left), a Maya man who fled violence in Guatemala three years ago, tells Dr. Nick Nelson he fears returning to the land of his birth. "There are a lot of gangs," he tells the doctor. "They want to kill people in my community."

Medical Clinics That Treat Refugees Help Determine The Case For Asylum

8:30am July 10, 2018

by Anna Gorman

It often falls to health care providers to discern whether the asylum-seekers who say they've been tortured or persecuted in their homeland bear physical and psychological evidence of that harm.

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Nebraska resident Nick Carpenter listens as Becky Gould explains the Medicaid expansion petition in early July.

Nebraska May Join Utah, Idaho in Putting Medicaid Expansion Before Voters

5:13pm July 06, 2018

by Fred Knapp

A coalition in Nebraska turned in enough signatures to put Medicaid expansion on November's ballot. Supporters say expansion could bring health insurance to around 90,000 low-income Nebraskans

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is trying to add work requirements to the state's Medicaid program. A judge has blocked that request.

Federal Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements In Kentucky

8:31pm June 29, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

Several states are considering requiring that Medicaid recipients work to maintain their health coverage. In Kentucky, one such requirement has been stalled in court.

A young girl waits for care in a medical clinic. A growing number of citizen children of immigrant parents are losing out on Medicaid because their parents fear deportation.

Fearing Deportation, Some Immigrants Opt Out Of Health Benefits For Their Kids

7:39pm June 22, 2018

by Ashley Lopez

A growing number of American children are losing out on Medicaid — and other programs — because their parents are undocumented immigrants and fear detainment and deportation.

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Marnobia Juarez came to the U.S. from Guatemala and lives in Maryland. She dreams of getting her green card, but increasingly worries that won't happen under Trump's policy. Juarez was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and receives care through a state

Under A Trump Proposal, Lawful Immigrants Might Shun Medical Care

5:00am May 10, 2018

A proposed change in immigration policy from the Trump administration could make it harder for immigrants to obtain a green card if family members use Medicaid, WIC or other federal medical benefits.