One big problem is that federal Medicaid payment policy discriminates against the most vulnerable—the people it is meant to serve. The federal Medicaid rate for able-bodied, working-age adults is 30 percentage points higher than the average rate states receive for children, pregnant women, seniors and the disabled. That hurts those who need Medicaid the most.
Category: Policy & Legislation
It’s Not Just Patients, Doctors too are Frustrated with Our Health Care System
News flash: Doctors hate our health care system as much as patients! I am going to make a bold, unsubstantiated claim that doctors hate it for different reasons than patients, however. About a month ago I blogged about patients losing trust in their doctors. It is not that I do not trust my doctors. It’s that I worry they have divided loyalties considering nearly three-in-four work for a hospital or a hedge fund.
NY Passes Health Care Consumer Protections, then Backsteps
I have written in the past about the needed consumer protections in health care. Price transparency is chief among them. Another is banning blanket consent-to-pay forms without adequate price transparency. New York State passed such a law that was due to take effect late 2024, prohibiting health care providers from forcing patients to sign consent-to-pay forms prior to care and prior to when prices are discussed.
Friday Links
- Of the world’s top pediatric hospitals, the United States claims more than a quarter – 28 percent.
- American patients had access to 85% of all drugs launched between 2012 and 2021. Canadians had access to just 45% of the drugs launched in that same period.
- A libertarian view of the proper role of public health.
- Claim: Patient care at University Hospitals Cleveland is nearly 30% cheaper than the national average.
- Obamacare fraud:
Between January 2024 and August 2024, CMS fielded 90,863 “complaints that consumers had their [Exchange] plan changed without their consent,” and another 183,553 “complaints that consumers were enrolled in [Exchange] coverage without their consent.” That’s nearly 300,000 reports of fraudulent enrollment in eight months — and that’s just among the states using the federal Exchange.
The state taxes Medicaid insurers and then makes higher payments to those same insurers with that tax revenue. The higher payments enable the state to claim additional federal matching dollars.