Posts Tagged ‘coverage’
Statement By Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker On Reduced State “Clawback” Payments For Medicare Drug Coverage
We welcome yesterday’s announcement by the Obama Administration that states will see a $4.3 billion reduction in state “clawback” payments to the federal government for assuming responsibility for drug coverage for people with Medicare and Medicaid through the Part D drug benefit…
States Push For Insurers To Increase Coverage
States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage mandates and requirements. Idaho Reporter explores efforts to mandate that insurers cover prosthetics in the state with the nation’s fewest health insurance mandates. “The Idaho Senate is looking at requiring health insurance to cover replacing and repairing prosthetic limbs and devices…
With Health Reform Stalled, Medicare Coverage For Some Therapies Subject To Caps
Stalled health care reform efforts have created several unresolved issues, some of which related to Medicare and Medicaid. The Hill: “Medicare beneficiaries face a steep cliff in their coverage for physical therapy and similar treatments due to Congress’s failure to enact a healthcare reform bill. On Jan…
Despite Recession, Some States Boosting Insurance Coverage
“Despite the economic downturn that’s busting state budgets from Sacramento to Tallahassee, 26 states this year made it easier for low-income children, parents or pregnant women to get health coverage, according to a report released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation,” Kaiser Health News and The Miami Herald report (KHN is a program of the foundation)…
With Pets Also Vulnerable To The Flu, PurinaCare(R) Pet Health Insurance Extends Coverage For The H3N8 (Dog Flu) Treatment
PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance, which is committed to help pet owners provide a lifetime of care for their dogs and cats, is alerting dog owners to the dangers of the H3N8 virus, more commonly referred to as the Dog Flu or canine influenza. Canine influenza is extremely contagious and while humans are not affected by this flu strain, they can unknowingly pass it from an infected dog to an unaffected dog.
1.46 Million Working-Age Vets Lacked Health Coverage Last Year, Increasing Their Death Rate, Harvard Researchers Say
A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.
Coverage Details Hits Taken By Medicaid Programs In State Budget Cuts
State Medicaid and other health programs have fallen under the axe or been moved onto the chopping block this week. Associated Press: “Gov. Jay Nixon cut an additional $204 million from Missouri’s budget Wednesday and eliminated nearly 700 jobs in attempt to offset a continued decline in state tax revenues.” The cuts include lowering Medicaid payments (Lieb, 10/18).
SNM And Other Imaging Groups Ask CMS To Reconsider Coverage Decision To Include Two FDG-PET Scans
Seven medical imaging groups wrote a joint letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to formally request coverage of two fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scans for a patient during the initial treatment evaluation. Currently, CMS covers only one FDG-PET study during initial treatment – a limitation that the groups believe is contrary to good clinical practice under certain circumstances.
New Jersey Seeks Federal Permission To Expand Medicaid Family Planning Coverage
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) this week applied for permission from the federal government to expand no-cost family planning services to uninsured women with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, or about $21,000 annually, who do not qualify for existing subsidized health insurance programs, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
State Round-up: Warnings, Coverage And Violations In Health Care
Kaiser Health News presents a round-up of state health news from around the United States: Modern Healthcare: “States would have up to one year to repay the federal government a share of the money they recoup from fraudulent or improper Medicaid payments, under an amendment approved by the Senate Finance Committee.
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