Health Care Delivery

The findings in Diabetes Care served as early confirmation of what some had feared: a bifurcated Medicaid system will lead to an American of haves and have-nots in healthcare.

Although there has been improvement in the use of health information technology for care coordination, fewer than half of patient-centered medical homes routinely use computerized systems to identify patients seen in emergency departments or hospitals or to send care summary to other providers.

As of April 2015, 21 states have chosen not to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. All but one of those states have also chosen to rely on federally facilitated marketplaces.

This week The American Journal of Managed Care launched its new Managed Markets News Network, featuring the top stories in managed care and interviews with industry experts.

More than 1 in 4 adults who bought insurance for themselves or their families last year had to skip needed medical care because they couldn't afford it, according to a study released Thursday by Families USA, a consumer health group.

Gov. Rick Scott told agency heads to prepare for the worst Thursday, asking them to list only the state's most critical needs in the event the Legislature can't reach an agreement on a budget that doesn't expand healthcare to the poor.

The contractor tapped to rescue the flailing HealthCare.gov in the fall of 2013 declared its work finished Thursday and said it doesn't plan to continue overseeing the website that sells subsidized insurance to millions of Americans as part of the federal health law.

The theory that a lack of coordination leads to poor health outcomes and higher costs drives US healthcare policy. But for the first time, a new study in The American Journal of Managed Care measures this phenomenon-and confirms it.

A hospital visit prompts an exchange about an "Alabama plan" to expand Medicaid in a state that is trying for find new funding sources for adult mental health services.

According to Robert Pozen, non-resident senior fellow at Brookings, government healthcare plans were 17.5% higher cost than the average citizen's plan, while their employee contributions were 45% less than the average plan. If these patterns continue, many state and city healthcare plans will run up against the "Cadillac" tax in 2018, he predicts.

The Maryland Health Connection, the state's insurance exchange, employed a number of strategies in during the second open enrollment period to get consumers signed up, explained Carolyn Quattrocki, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, the agency that operates Maryland Health Connection.

The guidance comes after advocacy groups and members of Congress complained of widespread violations of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that all forms of birth control be covered without a co-payment, not just the low-cost methods. The action also responds to recent reports that payers have balked at requests for BRCA testing even when indicated.

Carolinas HealthCare System monitors ICUs in 10 of its hospitals from a command center near Charlotte. The command center is staffed 24/7 with a rotating crew of 7 to 9 nurses and doctors who specialize in critical care.

Medicare's new payment formula is set to begin in 2019. The problem is no one's agreed on standards for measuring quality or efficiency of patient care.

The White House is moving to address 2 of the most common consumer complaints about the sale of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act: that doctor directories are inaccurate, and that patients are hit with unexpected bills for costs not covered by insurance.

It's an incorrect, but convenient, shorthand to say that the Affordable Care Act establishes state-based health insurance markets. Actually, the markets are finer grained than that.

It is unclear at this time what role President Barack Obama's healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, played in the slowdown of healthcare spending and how much can be attributed to the Great Recession.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell yesterday rejected Governor Rick Scott's proposal to extend the current funding mechanism, which this year brought $1.3 billion in federal funds to hospitals that care for high numbers of uninsured patients.

Among other topics, panelists discussed the connection between mental health and diabetes, and the need to treat these conditions together.

The Affordable Care Act provided funds for 10 states to experiment with incentive programs in Medicaid. Researchers hope to learn what steps will motivate beneficiaries to take steps to improve their health.

MNsure's chief executive announced his resignation Monday, paving the way for a third leadership shakeup at the beleaguered agency in less than 2 years.