Health

"Utah's top health official said Thursday he is optimistic about the prospects of gaining federal approval for a state-tailored private expansion of Medicaid, but some strides still need to be made. David Patton, director of the Utah Department of Health, met privately with elected officials and other community leaders during a visit to Washington County, part of a campaign to gather support for Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah Plan, proposed as a compromised alternative to a full Medicaid expansion under the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act."

"Fewer low-income children and adults are filing for federal disability benefits in Arkansas this year, according to the state's Social Security disability determination agency. Physically or mentally disabled people up to age 64 who have little or no Social Security trust funds are eligible for Supplemental Security Income, SSI. Those approved for the federal program, which is funded through general tax revenue, are automatically enrolled in Medicaid. The 19 percent drop - from 17,497 first-time SSI applications to 14,160 applications from Oct. 1 to Tuesday - is the largest seen by the agency since 2006."

"Buckling from more than $140 million in losses racked up since the start of the year, the companies that contract with the state to insure Medicaid patients are pressing the Patrick administration to boost health payments for low-income residents. The health insurers' losses are tied to a high-cost hepatitis C drug approved by federal regulators last December and a surge of nearly 190,000 new members, many with expensive medical needs, assigned by MassHealth, the state Medicaid program. State funding budgeted for the current year falls far short of covering these costs, the insurers say."

"Health insurers that cover low-income residents are reacting in different ways to financial struggles brought on by the health care overhaul and expensive drugs, with some turning to new markets while others petition the state for help. Many insurers that cover Medicaid populations, and those that offer the fee-per-member model for Medicaid clients known as Managed Medicaid,' have seen drastic operating losses in the last several months."

"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare puts him alone among Republican governors vying for the 2016 presidential nomination, and could come back to haunt him among primary voters. Some of his potential rivals who are also governors have sought ways to leverage federal money, and others have spurned the Medicaid expansion altogether. Mr. Christie, however, embraced President Obama's vision of expanding the federal-state health care program for the poor to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level."

"Kentucky showed one of the largest drops in the percentage of uninsured adults since expanded Medicaid went into effect last January, according to a recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index poll. The latest state figures show that 512,000 Kentuckians were newly enrolled in health coverage, with nearly three-fourths of them qualifying under Medicaid expansion that happened as part of the Affordable Care Act. One-fourth purchased private insurance through the state-based marketplace, kynect."

"It is well known that in the United States, women and children in low-income families have significantly higher death rates than women and children of affluent families. However, new research shows that we have a well-established and evidenced-based program that can reduce those higher death rates."

"Researchers have known for years that low-income Medicare recipients don't always receive the prescription drug coverage that best matches their needs; but thanks to a Pitt study, there's now a price tag for this inefficiency: About $5 billion."

"Amid the name-calling and blame-mongering, a group of liberal Democratic lawmakers unveiled an analysis breaking down how much additional money could be freed up for local school divisions if Virginia takes the available federal money to expand the Medicaid program. According to the Virginia Progressive Caucus, expansion would result in $285 million in savings over the next two years that could be used for other state services."