Medicaid

Politics & Government

Senate leader: NC hospitals' Medicaid proposal not 'serious'

1:13pm September 20, 2022

by Gary Robertson, Associated Press

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger on Tuesday called an offer from state hospitals to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of the working poor “not a serious proposal,” saying loosened re

Margaret Davis (left) and Delisa Williams (right) became acquainted when they moved into the Salvation Army Center of Hope shelter, just outside Charlotte, N.C. Both women receive federal benefits, but the monthly amounts aren't high enough for them to be able to rent an apartment.

High rents outpace federal disability payments, leaving many homeless

5:01am September 15, 2022

by Fred Clasen-Kelly

Supplemental Security Income, a federal program meant to be a financial floor for people unable to work, hasn't kept pace with inflation. Many recipients are homeless, unable to save for an apartment.

Tennessee's Medicaid program, TennCare, dropped Katie Lester and her son Mason (right), because of a clerical error in 2019. The Lester family was left uninsured for most of the next three years, including during the birth of youngest child Memphis (left)

They lost Medicaid when paperwork was sent to a pasture, signaling the mess to come

5:01am August 02, 2022

by Brett Kelman

Tennessee expects to soon disenroll about 300,000 people from Medicaid. But families like the Lesters have been entangled in bureaucracy and clerical mistakes, causing them to unfairly lose coverage.

Politics & Government

Medicaid expansion breakthrough within reach in N. Carolina

10:31am August 01, 2022

by Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press

Ana Elsy Ramirez Diaz holds her baby as he is seen by Dr. Margaret-Anne Fernandez during a checkup visit at INOVA Cares Clinic for Children in Falls Church, Va. A portion of the clinic's patients are insured through the Children's Health Insurance Program

Millions of kids qualify for Medicaid. Biden funds outreach to boost enrollment

1:05pm July 19, 2022

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

More than half of uninsured kids qualify for free coverage but don't know it. The government has released $49 million to get the word out, especially as the end of the COVID health emergency looms.

Henry Jones, who kept getting sicker after 11 years of homelessness, was admitted in 1991 into Christ House, one of the first medical respite programs in the country.

Medical respite offers refuge for homeless people recovering from illness

10:12am May 30, 2022

A growing number of private insurance companies are starting to invest in medical respite — a decades-old way of caring for homeless people. Here's what's driving the trend.

Jon Miller sits in his bedroom with his dog, Carlos, whom he received as a present for successfully completing cancer treatment a decade ago. Miller sustained severe brain damage, and requires the help of home health aides to continue living in his home.

A shortage of health aides is forcing out those who wish to get care at home

5:00am May 05, 2022

by Natalie Krebs

Home health care workers are among the lowest paid, shifting the burden of long-term care to aging and overstressed family members or assisted living centers, which are often understaffed themselves.

States must reach out to all Medicaid enrollees to inform them that their eligibility will need to be reevaluated, but many of those states will not be employing one key strategy: texting.

Health & Safety

Who doesn't text in 2022? Most state Medicaid programs

5:00am April 13, 2022

by Phil Galewitz

Though the majority of Medicaid recipients have smartphones, most states will rely on snail mail and email to tell people their coverage is at risk with the end of the COVID public health emergency.

Stacey Whitford applied for Medicaid for herself and her son in December. He needed the coverage for hearing aids, and they waited for months as Missouri officials processed thousands of applications.

A staffing crisis is causing a monthslong wait for Medicaid, and it could get worse

5:00am April 04, 2022

The pandemic has overwhelmed understaffed state Medicaid agencies, and as Biden's COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ends, low-income people could find it even harder to get coverage.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure appears during a Senate Committee on Finance hearing for her nomination to be Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, United States Department of Health and Human Services, in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2021.

Health & Safety

Why millions on Medicaid are at risk of losing coverage in the months ahead

12:17pm February 14, 2022

by Rachana Pradhan

During the pandemic, a federal mandate said state's could not kick people off Medicaid, even if they were no longer eligible for the benefit. That will change if the public health emergency is lifted.