Tag: Medicaid

Who Receives Medicaid? A State-by-State Breakdown

The following article by Rachel West and Katherine Gallagher Robbins was posted on the Center for American Progress website July 20, 2017:

An in-home nurse helps steady her patient in Brentwood, New Hampshire, on March 17, 2017. Credit: AP/Charles Krupa

Dismantling Medicaid is at the heart of President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress’ agenda. President Trump proposed cutting Medicaid by half in his budget, and Congress has proposed taking an ax to the program both through their repeal of the Affordable Care Act as well as through their budget blueprints. In all cases, these cuts to health coverage and services for children, people with disabilities, seniors, and low-income adults whom Medicaid serves would be used to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.

These cuts would have devastating consequences for the individuals, families, and communities that Medicaid serves. Nearly 4 in 10 of the nation’s children receive Medicaid, and the program delivers essential supports to 15 million Americans with disabilities. Medicaid covers nearly half of all births in the United States, 64 percent of people in nursing homes, and 1.8 million veterans. Continue reading “Who Receives Medicaid? A State-by-State Breakdown”

Don’t Assume That Private Insurance Is Better Than Medicaid

The following article by Aaron E. Carroll and Austin Frakt was posted on the New York Times site July 12, 2017:

As we recently wrote, it’s better for patients to have Medicaid than to be uninsured, contrary to critics of the program. But is having Medicaid, as those critics also say, much worse than having private insurance?

This idea has become a talking point for conservatives who back big changes to Medicaid, as the Senate health bill proposes. The poor would benefit simply by being ushered off Medicaid and onto private insurance, they write. Continue reading “Don’t Assume That Private Insurance Is Better Than Medicaid”

The Illusory Savings From Cutting Medicaid

The following article by Steve Chapman was posted on the Creators.com website June 25, 2017:

Image: JessicaGale via Morguefile.com

When economists talk in their sleep, they say, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” This axiom is drilled into them from day one of their undergraduate education and never leaves their minds. Any economist who tried to deny it would find herself suddenly choking in pain and unable to speak.

What it means is that if the government does something that costs money, some human somewhere will bear the expense. “Free” public schools, “free” parks and “free” roads all have to be paid for by the citizenry. Collectively, we can’t get something for nothing.

This useful insight has long been offered as an objection to costly government programs. But it applies as well to measures that extract savings from costly government programs. Continue reading “The Illusory Savings From Cutting Medicaid”

New Medicaid chief says recipients should get jobs, pay premiums

The following article by Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post was posted on the StarTribune website March 15, 2017:

Seema Verma, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is shown with Vice President Mike Pence after being sworn in Tuesday.

Hours after she was sworn in, the Trump administration’s top official for Medicaid and her boss dispatched a letter to the nation’s governors, urging states to alter the insurance program for poor and disabled people by charging them insurance premiums, requiring them to pay part of emergency room bills and prodding them to get jobs.

The letter, sent Tuesday night by Seema Verma, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, also derides the Medicaid expansion that 31 states and the District of Columbia adopted under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Continue reading “New Medicaid chief says recipients should get jobs, pay premiums”

Mayo to give preference to privately insured patients over Medicaid patients

The following article by Jeremy Olson was posted on the StarTribune website March 15, 2017:

Mayo Clinic’s chief executive made a startling announcement in a recent speech to employees: The Rochester-based health system will give preference to patients with private insurance over those with lower-paying Medicaid or Medicare coverage, if they seek care at the same time and have comparable conditions.

The number of patients affected would probably be small, but the selective strategy reveals the financial pressures that Mayo is facing in part due to federal health reforms. For while the Affordable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured patients, it has increased the share covered by Medicaid, which pays around 50 to 85 cents on the dollar of the actual cost of medical care.

Mayo will always take patients, regardless of payer source, when it has medical expertise that they can’t find elsewhere, said Dr. John Noseworthy, Mayo’s CEO. But when two patients are referred with equivalent conditions, he said the health system should “prioritize” those with private insurance. Continue reading “Mayo to give preference to privately insured patients over Medicaid patients”

In Secret, The GOP Is Also Planning To Gut Medicaid And Medicare

The following article by @LOLGOP was posted on the National Memo website March 6, 2017:

House Republicans are now busily working to repeal the Affordable Care Act in secret.

Even when the GOP plan is done and made public, the secrecy will continue. The potential impact will still be hidden from the public, as it’s likely to not have any score from the Congressional Budget Office before the House votes on it. This means members of the House will not have any real idea of how many people they’re voting to uninsure, how much this plan will increase the deficit, and just how big a giveaway it will be to the rich.

Why is Paul Ryan is hiding his plan?

He knows that Republicans cannot afford an honest debate about the GOP’s repeal plans, especially their true intentions for Medicaid and Medicare. Continue reading “In Secret, The GOP Is Also Planning To Gut Medicaid And Medicare”

Paul Ryan’s claim that ‘more and more doctors just won’t take Medicaid’

The following article was written by Michelle Ye H Lee was posted on the Washington Post website February 1, 2017:

Don Emmert/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images

“The problem that we’re seeing in Medicaid is more and more doctors just won’t take Medicaid, because they lose money on Medicaid.”
— House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), town hall on CNN, Jan. 12, 2017

During a town hall on Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Ryan described the need for changes to the Medicaid program at the state level. Some states made changes so that low-income enrollees could get coverage and access to care, but not all states did, he said. Continue reading “Paul Ryan’s claim that ‘more and more doctors just won’t take Medicaid’”

The Republicans’ Plan for Medicaid: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

The following post by Maura Calsyn and Thomas Huelskoetter was posted on the Center for American Progress’ website January 12, 2017:

Elevators close on Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as he arrives at Trump Tower in New York on November 16, 2016. AP/Carolyn Kaster

President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in the U.S. Congress are poised to dismantle the Medicaid program, which provides millions of Americans with a health care safety net. First, they plan to repeal key parts of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA—including the law’s Medicaid expansion—through the budget reconciliation process without yet offering any replacement plan. Second, congressional plans to drastically restructure the Medicaid program will make coverage less secure for those who remain enrolled in the program. Continue reading “The Republicans’ Plan for Medicaid: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”