News on Medicaid

PersonalFinance: Federal long-term care

2010-03-18T06:16:06Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON, March 17 - Tucked inside that healthcare bill and likely to become the law of the land, is a new federal long-term care insurance policy.</p><p>Called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, the new program is a voluntary opt-in insurance plan that would give beneficiaries as much as $75 a day to pay for long-term care expenses. It's not yet clear how high the premiums would be, but people who paid into the program and then needed it...

Reforming health care

2010-03-18T02:15:33Z

<div id="subtitle">Problems with Medicaid put millions of AmericansÕ access to care at risk</div><div><p> Medicaid, the health insurance safety net for the nationÕs poor, is struggling under budget cuts that are leaving those who most need the help with few options.</p><p>The New York Times reported Monday on the serious problems ...

AG: Mass. dentist used paper clips in root canals

2010-03-16T18:15:31Z

<div id="subtitle">Mass. dentist accused of using paper clips in root canals instead of stainless steel posts</div><div><p>A former Massachusetts dentist is accused of placing paper clips instead of stainless steel posts inside the teeth of root canal patients while billing Medicaid for the more expensive parts.</p><p>The state attorney general announced T...

Obama expects passage of health care bill

2010-03-15T15:01:08Z

<div><p>President Barack Obama says he expects to get the votes for his health care overhaul, telling ABC News "we're going to make this happen."</p><p>In an interview Monday, the president said Democrats are working to get a bill ready for a vote later this week.</p><p>He said: "I bel...

Healthcare reality from Walgreens (WAG)

2010-03-15T20:00:06Z

Walgreens (WAG) will stop accepting Washington state Medicaid patients at its pharmacies, after the state reduced reimbursement rates.  As a pubic company, they have an obligation to their shareholders NOT to accept loss-generating business from an increasingly belligerent government program.

From the release:
...

Extra federal aid could solve SD budget problem

2010-03-11T18:30:50Z

<div id="subtitle">Extra federal Medicaid money could solve SD state budget problem</div><div><p>The South Dakota Legislature's plans to cut state spending next year were thrown into question Thursday when lawmakers learned the state might get an extra $36 million in federal aid.</p><p>The Legislature had planned to pass a...

Only Nevada to blame for puny share of U.S. money

2010-03-11T02:15:48Z

<div><p> Nevada is dead last in per-capita federal funding for state programs such as health, education and transportation, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.</p><p>Nevada received $742 per person during fiscal year 2008 from the federal government for these programs, compared with $1,469 for the rest of the nation.</p>...

Senate passes jobless aid, business tax breaks

2010-03-10T16:15:54Z

<div><p>The Senate voted Wednesday to extend key pieces of last year's economic stimulus measure, including help for the jobless and money to help financially strapped states pay for health care for the poor.</p><p>The 62-36 vote came over protests from conservatives who say the bill adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt. Six Republicans joined all but one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Wall Street estimates</div><div><p>ResCare Inc. posted a loss in the fourth quarter, but the company gave an outlook for 2010 that was above Wall Street's expectations.</p><p>ResCare provides residential, training and support services to people with physical and...

Seniors pinched by new charges for home care help

2010-03-08T13:03:10Z

<div id="subtitle">Seniors who want to avoid nursing homes worry over new charges for home care, meals, nurses</div><div><p>Rising property taxes, failing eyesight and even a tumble that cracked her tailbone haven't forced 89-year-old Angeline DiBeneditto from the home she's had for more than six decades.</p><p>Now, though, changes in a Connecticut program that helps her and others live independently could ...

Senate rejects Social Security bonus payment

2010-03-03T17:15:20Z

<div id="subtitle">Senate rejects Obama proposal for $250 Social Security bonus payments</div><div><p>The Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposal by President Barack Obama to give people on Social Security a $250 bonus check.</p><p>Republicans and Democratic deficit hawks combined to reject the idea by a 50-47 vote. The plan, offered in the Senate by

SC may gut programs for 26,000 disabled residents

2010-03-03T05:30:38Z

<div id="subtitle">SC lawmakers consider cutting all services for 26,000 people with disabilities</div><div><p>Lawmakers are considering cutting all services for nearly 26,000 people with disabilities as South Carolina tries to plug a $560 million budget hole.</p><p>Parents say the proposed cuts to day care programs and other services would force them to give up much-needed jobs to stay home and care ...

Obama open to adding GOP ideas to health plan

2010-03-02T12:31:27Z

<div><p>President Barack Obama said Tuesday he was open to four new Republican proposals on health care legislation, in a gesture of bipartisanship meant to jump-start his stalled drive to overhaul the system.</p><p>Obama detailed the ideas, all of which were raised at a bipartisan health care summit last week, in a letter to congressional leaders. In a nod to his 2008 presidential rival, Obama also said he had elimi...

Service provider Providence expects 4Q profit

2010-03-01T15:31:19Z

<div id="subtitle">Service provider Providence expects higher 4Q profit than forecast with Medicaid enrollment up</div><div><p>Social service provider Providence Service Corp. predicted Monday that it will earn more than expected in the fourth quarter after it slashed expenses and earned more from Medicaid programs.</p><p>...

Insurer Centene sells assets to Amerigroup NJ

2010-03-01T13:15:33Z

<div id="subtitle">Health insurer Centene completes sale of New Jersey assets to rival Amerigroup Co.</div><div><p>Health insurer Centene Corp. said Monday that it has completed the sale of the Medicaid assets of its New Jersey su...

Magellan Health 4Q profit jumps on revenue

2010-02-26T04:45:34Z

<div id="subtitle">Magellan Health Services' 4th-quarter profit jumps on higher revenue, boost from Medicaid</div><div><p>Health care outsourcing company Magellan Health Services Inc. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit jumped on higher revenue, mainly from Medicaid.</p><p>Magellan said net income rose 85 percent to $43.8 ...

Biden: Gov't wastes health care money

2010-02-25T12:30:29Z

<div><p>Vice President Joe Biden says the government's health care spending wastes "a heck of a lot of money."</p><p>Biden opened the second half of President Barack Obama's daylong health summit Thursday by focusing the discussion on overhauling health care to reduce the deficit. He said he agrees with others, including Medicaid help for states</div><div><p>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pressing to extend unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the jobless through December as he and Republicans try to clear leftover Senate business.</p><p>Reid also hopes to keep helping cash-strapped states with thei...

NJ drug company agrees to pay $3.5 settlement

2010-02-22T14:15:52Z

<div id="subtitle">NJ drug company agrees to pay $3.5 settlement with federal authorities</div><div><p>Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle allegations that it claimed its heart drug was eligible for Medicaid reimbursement.</p><p>The U.S. att...

Obama plan kills "Cornhusker Kickback," boosts Medicaid

2010-02-22T10:45:35Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The so-called "Cornhusker Kickback" that gave Nebraska a special deal in the Senate's healthcare legislation, and which 15 states had threatened to sue over, has been dropped from a fresh reform proposal President Barack Obama released on Monday.</p><p>The caveat in the stal...