Summaries of recent news about Medicaid programs in California, Maryland, Mississippi and Nevada appear below. • California: The state’s new fiscal year began on Tuesday, but lawmakers have not yet approved a state budget, which will prevent most physicians, hospitals, pharmacists and adult day care centers from receiving Medicaid payments, the Sacramento Bee reports. The [...]
An Alabama state court jury on Tuesday found pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis guilty of defrauding the state Medicaid program by charging artificially high prices for medications and ordered the two companies to pay more than $114 million in restitution, the AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. GSK was ordered to pay the state $80.8 million and [...]
Connecticut officials on Monday launched a new health insurance program, called the Charter Oak Health Plan, that is expected to expand coverage to 19,200 uninsured adults in its first year, the Hartford Courant reports. State residents ages 19 to 65 who do not qualify for existing state health insurance programs and are not insured through [...]
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that increases the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The increase, which brings the tax to $2.51, took effect immediately. On Monday, the bill was approved by the state House and Senate by votes of 93-52 and 26-9, [...]
UnitedHealth Group on Wednesday lowered its earnings guidance because of reduced commercial businesses and higher-than-expected Medicare-related costs and said it would restructure the company with a greater focus on regional coverage, the Chicago Tribune reports (Chicago Tribune, 7/3). The insurer said that profits would drop about 16% from earlier estimates (Forster, St. Paul Pioneer Press, [...]
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday published two letters to the editor in response to an opinion piece about a bill (HR 6331) approved last month by the House that would delay a scheduled 10.6% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements and reduce funds for Medicare Advantage. The opinion piece, written by Scott Gottlieb, a former [...]
Although city officials estimated in July 2007 that Healthy San Francisco would offer access to health care to all city residents by January, the program one year later remains open only to individuals with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The city has halted expansion of the [...]
