Despite continued Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, a key component of the law that has given millions of people health coverage — Medicaid expansion — could prove very difficult to undo, experts say. A growing number of states have signed up for that expansion of the government-run program for poor people, or are discussing doing so. Hospitals are becoming accustomed to the money that comes with expansion, and a majority of new enrollees are saying they are happy with their coverage. The difficulty of getting rid of Medicaid expansion, which uses federal dollars to give health benefits to previously ineligible adults, was sharply underscored this fall by the election of ardent Obamacare foe Matt Bevin as governor of Kentucky.
UCare's pain over a lost state contract has resulted in big enrollment gains for two rival health insurers. The HMO division of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota added about 162,000 members in state public health insurance programs between December and January, according to new state data, while Minnetonka-based Medica added 120,000. Minneapolis-based UCare, meanwhile, lost about 343,000 enrollees, according to a report posted earlier this month by the state Department of Human Services. The numbers provide a first look at how the market is changing after UCare lost most of its massive contract with the state to manage care for the largest portions of the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare insurance programs.
Millions of young adults healthy enough to think they don't need insurance face painful choices this year as the sign-up deadline approaches for President Barack Obama's health care law. Fines for being uninsured rise sharply in 2016 — averaging nearly $1,000 per household, according to an independent estimate. It's forcing those in their 20s and 30s to take a hard look and see if they can squeeze in coverage to avoid penalties. Many are trying to establish careers or just make progress in a still-bumpy economy. "There's only so far one can dwindle a ramen-noodle diet," said Christopher Rael of Los Angeles.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield says it has reinstated health coverage for thousands of stranded customers who were dropped from the insurer's rolls in a technology debacle that cut off coverage for residents with urgent medical needs and rippled throughout the state. But the state's largest health insurer is not disclosing how many customers are still without health insurance, even as Blue Cross concedes that call volumes to the company's help line remain far above normal. Both the N.C. Department of Insurance and the N.C. Attorney General plan to review the episode, the most serious crisis in Blue Cross's recent history, after immediate customer needs have been resolved.
Each year, in the United States, millions of patients are harmed while receiving care in hospitals. They get infections, experience adverse reactions to drugs, develop dangerous bed sores, or come down with pneumonia from the very ventilators meant to help them breathe. The estimates of the number of people who die each year as a result of hospital errors have ranged from as many as 98,000 in a landmark Institute of Medicine report from 1999 to as many as 440,000 in a 2013 study. It's believed that most of these deaths could be prevented if health care providers always adhered to evidence-informed practices.
Joe Carr welcomes the state and health care industry partnership to protect the 200-plus members of his New Jersey Hospital Association against cyber threats and hacking. "That kind of support is really important for us," said Carr, chief information officer for the New Jersey Hospital Association. The newly formed New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell — called NJ CICC — is the state's one-stop shop for cyber threats, attacks, analysis and incident reporting. It's under the state Homeland Security Department. It has 19 states and hundreds of public and private partners with which it shares information.