- 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…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty