News

California expands Medicaid to all eligible undocumented individuals By Jakob Emerson December 28, 2023   Starting Jan. 1, California will become the first state to offer Medicaid coverage to all eligible undocumented individuals, Cal Matters reported Dec. 28.   The state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, first expanded coverage to undocumented children in 2015 and to individuals […]

Nearly half of every dollar spent by Medicare drug plans goes to private health insurers’ pharmacy benefit managers and wholesalers By Wendell Potter January 5th, 2024   As members of Congress get back to business after the holidays, they seem to be poised to pass legislation that would address some of the abuses of pharmacy

At least 13 million people lost Medicaid this year, with Texas an epicenter of the ‘unwinding’ By Inyoung Choi and Arleen Aguasvivas and Zinhle Essamuah December 31, 2023   Erica Olenski, a single mother of three in McKinney, Texas, juggles the responsibilities of parenthood and a full-time job, in addition to the demands of her

12 healthcare trends and issues we are following for 2024 by Scott Becker and Molly Gamble January 2, 2024   The year begins with a number of challenges that have only intensified for U.S. healthcare providers.   Below are a dozen trends and issues that commanded our attention throughout 2023 and hold our curiosity in

The ED Remains Colored by Despair by Edwin Leap, MD, Contributing Writer, MedPage January 1, 2024   In late 2022, Edwin Leap, MD, wrote about how emergency departments throughout the country were overburdened with patients and staffed with healthcare workers who were running out of steam. As part of our review of the past year’s

The Case Of The Missing Health Care Providers By Helen Santoro January 2, 2024   For the past 24 years, Sarah has operated a physical therapy clinic in a small town in Boulder County, Colorado. Her clinic is in-network with health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, though Sarah’s reimbursement rate paid by the insurer for each patient

Marketing Medicare Advantage to seniors of color – even when it’s bad for their health By Matthew Cunningham-Cook January 3, 2024   Eugene Quishenberry was 85 years old when his Medicare Advantage plan stopped covering his skilled nursing care. Less than a year later, in 2015, he died.   “It was weird. I came to

Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker Dec 20, 2023   The Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker presents the most recent data on monthly Medicaid disenrollments, renewals, overall enrollment and other key indicators reported by states during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision. The unwinding data are pulled from state websites, where available, and from

I’m Sorry, Your Patient No Longer Has Medicaid Coverage by Valerie Smith, MD, MPH December 29, 2023   In March, MedPage Today reported on the impending rollback of provisions that kept millions of Americans enrolled in Medicaid during the COVID public health emergency. As part of our review of the past year’s biggest events, Texas

Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker [KFF] Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker Dec 07, 2023   The data presented here provide a snapshot of each state at the start of and during the unwinding period. Figure 1 shows total Medicaid enrollment by month starting in January 2023 and, once disenrollments resume in a state, the cumulative