Medicaid

A change in income can also change a person's options for health coverage.

Switching Between Medicaid, Marketplace Can Confuse Consumers

10:48am January 12, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Here are some tips for how people can handle moving between the government health plan for low-income residents and the private plans offered on the federal health law's exchanges.

News

State In Middle Of The Pack In Reliance On Federal Funds

3:31pm January 08, 2016

by Sean Bueter

New analysis from the non-partisan Tax Foundation shows North Carolina is in the middle of the pack in our reliance on federal funding.

Chris Benedetto says it took five months of inpatient treatment for his heroin addiction before he was able to finally kick his drug habit of many years — and stay clean.

Medicaid May Soon Pay For Some Inpatient Addiction Treatment

6:51pm January 06, 2016

by Ben Allen

Some Medicaid plans will now get federal funding for 15 days of inpatient treatment. But Pennsylvania fears the new rule will close a loophole the state has been using to pay for longer stints.

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Bupropion, sold under the name Wellbutrin, is an antidepressant often prescribed to help a person quit smoking.

Medicaid Programs Fall Short When It Comes To Helping Smokers Quit

4:08pm January 05, 2016

by Nancy Shute

People who have Medicaid insurance are much more likely to be smokers, and the program pays for medication to help them quit. But just 10 percent of Medicaid recipients get that help, a study finds.

Duke Gillingham, president of Oasis Foods, in Hillside, N.J., says about two-thirds of his roughly 180 employees declined to enroll in the company health plan for 2015. Many make less than $15 an hour, and found the company plan too expensive.

N.J. Factory Turns To Medicaid To Insure Lowest-Paid Employees

4:28pm January 01, 2016

by Fred Mogul

Starting Jan. 1, midsize companies must offer health insurance to their workers or risk a penalty. A firm that has already faced that problem is helping low-paid employees enroll in Medicaid, instead.

A 12-week regimen of Harvoni is 90 percent effective in curing an infection with hepatitis C, doctors say. It also costs about $95,000.

States Deny Pricey Hepatitis C Drugs To Most Medicaid Patients

3:42pm December 28, 2015

by Jake Harper

Effective treatments for hepatitis C cost as much as $95,000. Medicaid in many states, including Indiana, is mostly limiting the drugs' use to very advanced cases. ACLU of Indiana is suing the state.

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Sovaldi can cure hepatitis C, but the medicine carries a list price of $1,000 a pill. The typical 12-week course of treatment would cost $84,000.

Hepatitis Drug Among The Most Costly For Medicaid

6:52pm December 15, 2015

by Alison Kodjak

A Senate investigation finds that Medicaid programs in 33 states spent more than $1 billion on the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in a single year.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy unveiled his budget to the legislature last February, but the year's expenditures were greater than income. Connecticut's leaders voted to cut hospital funding to help close the gap.

Connecticut Governor Targets Hospital Funds To Close Budget Gap

7:04am December 12, 2015

by Jeff Cohen

When Gov. Dannel Malloy pushed to tax hospitals in 2012, he said the money would come back to the institutions through state funding. Now he's reneging, and the hospitals are threatening a lawsuit.

Expanded Medicaid Coverage Means More Women Get Mammograms

12:14pm December 01, 2015

by Lynne Shallcross

Low-income women were 25 percent more likely to get screened for breast cancer in states that expanded their Medicaid programs early under the Affordable Care Act.

Kalu James moved to Austin, Texas, eight years ago, but bought health insurance for the first time this year. Twenty percent of the city's musicians live below the federal poverty line.

Musicians Struggle To Buy Insurance In A City That Thrives On Music

7:04pm November 11, 2015

by Veronica Zaragovia

The music industry generates $1.6 billion a year for Austin, Texas. But many musicians can't afford the basics, including health insurance. The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians steps in to help.

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