- State’s low Medicaid payments pinch doctor practices in low-income areas, By Guy Boulton, July 19, 2014, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Mohammad Qasim Khan, a primary care physician who oversees a private practice in a low-income neighborhood, well knows the discrepancy between what private insurance pays for his services and what the state’s Medicaid program pays. Khan, who works with another physician and three nurse practitioners at the Family Medical Clinic, 5434 W. Capitol Drive, estimates that the program’s payment rates are half — and in some cases, less than half — those of private insurance…”
- U.S. hospitals get lift from surge in Medicaid sign-ups, By Susan Kelly, August 1, 2014, Philadelphia Inquirer: “U.S. hospitals are getting a stronger-than-expected benefit from a new influx of low-income patients whose bills are paid by the government’s Medicaid program, raising their profit forecasts as a result. The growing numbers of Medicaid patients helped hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc, the largest for-profit chain, post stronger earnings in the second quarter than initially forecast…”
- CDC: Many kids with Medicaid use ER as doctor’s office, By Steven Reinberg, July 29, 2014, Lafayette Journal and Courier: “Children covered by Medicaid, the publicly funded insurance program for the poor, visit the emergency room for medical care far more often than uninsured or privately insured youngsters, a U.S. survey finds. And kids with Medicaid were more likely than those with private insurance to visit for a reason other than a serious medical problem, according to the 2012 survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…”
Day: August 1, 2014
July 2014 US Unemployment
Economy gains 209,000 jobs; jobless rate, 6.2%, By Paul Davidson, August 1, 2014, USA Today: “The high-flying labor market showed no let-up in July as employers added 209,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 6.2% from 6.1%, the Labor Department said Friday, as 329,000 Americans, including many who had given up their job searches, surged back into the labor force. Economists had estimated that 238,000 jobs were created last month, according to the median forecast from Action Economics survey…”
Childhood Poverty and Health Outcomes
Improved parenting may fortify low-income kids against poverty effects, By Melissa Healy, August 1, 2014, Los Angeles Times: “For children growing up in poverty, the seeds of poor health in adulthood appear to be sown early. But a nurturing parent may be able to foster a child’s resilience to such conditions as allergies, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, says a new study. To gauge the lasting health effects of good parenting, the latest research returned to rural Georgia eight years after researchers completed their first clinical trial of a seven-week program called the Strong African American Families Project. Of the 667 African American mothers and their children who participated in that trial, researchers returned to 272 of the child subjects, who were by now 19 to 20 years old. They collected blood samples and measured those samples for signs of systemic inflammation…”