Quality & Access to Care
For the past two years, CMS Administrator Seema Verma has wanted to “rollback” the Medicaid Access Rule. That’s the CMS regulation that implements the requirement in the Medicaid statute that rates paid to physicians and other providers be “sufficient” so that enough participate in Medicaid to give beneficiaries access to covered services. In the […]
On March 27, the Centene Corporation announced it would acquire WellCare Health Plans, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at $17.3 billion. The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as state regulators. The companies “expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2020.” For […]
Each baby is born with limitless potential, and anyone who has ever held a baby has felt the enormity of opportunity ahead. But as ZERO TO THREE and Child Trends’ 50-state assessment of the state of babies in the United States finds, some babies come into the world facing more obstacles than opportunities. One in […]
Planning is now underway for Healthy People 2030 and advocates have an opportunity to help shape child and adolescent health priorities for the next decade. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is soliciting written comments on the proposed objectives for Healthy People 2030 until 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 17, 2019. […]
We have been digging deeper into the American Community Survey that we use for our annual uninsured report, which showed an increase overall for the first time since this data source began in 2008. Younger kids tend to have a higher rate of coverage than older kids, which makes sense as infants and toddlers are […]
The University of North Carolina’s Rural Health Research Program tracks closures of rural hospitals across the country. From 2010 to the present there are six states with five or more rural hospital closures. Texas leads with a stunning 15 rural hospitals closed, followed closely by Tennessee (9 rural hospitals closed) and Georgia (7 rural hospitals […]
