The Texas Medical Association, along with 32 other organizations representing physicians, dentists and child welfare groups, called on Gov. Greg Abbott — again — to expand Medicaid to help fight the COVID-19 crisis. Expanding the government health insurance for low-income families would make it easier for people to seek medical care and help cover the costs if they get sick from the virus, Medicaid expansion advocates said in a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Officials at Ohio Medicaid, which provides health coverage for roughly one in four Ohioans, have filed permanent rules to continue expanded telehealth options beyond the coronavirus pandemic. The department in March temporarily allowed telehealth, due to concerns over COVID-19's spread. Preliminary data shows telehealth was popular, particularly with behavioral health services. At least 200,00 recipients used it for mental health services, with nearly 1.3 million claims.
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The number of people on Medicaid in Missouri has jumped by nearly 100,000 people since the pandemic hit the United States. Although some of the growth is likely due to the economic fallout of shutting down the economy to slow the spread of COVID-19, a federal relief package providing more money to states for Medicaid costs also is a factor.
Dayton, Ohio-based CareSource and other insurance companies that manage Medicaid plans saw an uptick in people enrolled in Ohio Medicaid the first half of this year. Through the first half of 2020, CareSource’s enrollment for covered families and children with Ohio Medicaid grew 7.5%, from 1.19 million to 1.28 million people, according to an analysis by Allan Baumgarten, author of the forthcoming Ohio Health Market Review 2020.
Over the past year, Medicaid enrollment has increased by over 37,000 individuals in Hawaii. In August 2019, 330,601 individuals were enrolled in the state's Medicaid program. A year later, as of August 17 Medicaid membership now totals 367,994 — representing an 11.3% increase.
Heritage Health Adult Medicaid Expansion has successfully signed up 5,218 Nebraskans to-date.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) continues to provide great customer service. Applications are currently being processed in about seven days, which is over a month faster than required by federal law. Additional DHHS teammates have been hired and trained to be able to help answer callers’ questions and process applications.
The Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) is partnering with the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) to increase the reimbursement rate for emergency ground ambulance transportation. According to officials, these rates were previously calculated at 70% of the Medicare rate. A collaborative agreement with MSDH will make it possible for those reimbursements to be calculated at 100% of the Medicare rate.
A home healthcare company is leaving Nevada, and the union representing home healthcare workers says cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates are to blame. Addus Homecare is ending operations in Nevada in 60 days, according to a news release from the Service Employees International Union. The decision by Addus could cost about 300 people their jobs, according to information provided by a union spokesman.
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Three New Hampshire hospitals on the state's western border are suing Vermont and the federal government because they say they are paid substantially lower reimbursement rates to treat Vermont Medicaid patients compared to their counterparts on the other side of the Connecticut River. At stake is more than $2 million a year.
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States that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act have seen an "early surge in demand" for hip and knee replacement surgery, reports a study in the Sept. 2 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
Medicaid is often depicted as a tool for giving disadvantaged people access to healthcare, and the ACA enhanced its role even further in the states that have expanded the program. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) estimates that between 2013 and 2020, Medicaid enrollment increased by 12.4 million in the Medicaid expansion states, which works out to about a 33% increase.
But a thought-provoking piece posted on the Health Affairs blog yesterday puts a different, starker light on the Medicaid program. While acknowledging its role as a safety net program, the authors say Medicaid's history and politics are "steeped in the structural racism of the U.S." and that its policies have "failed to resolve racial health disparities."
