“One in five Americans now gets their health insurance through the Medicaid program, new data released by the Obama administration Wednesday show.
Enrollment in the program has grown quickly in states expanding the public insurance program as part of Obamacare. Those states had 15.3 percent more enrollees than they did before the Medicaid expansion. Non-expansion states’ Medicaid programs have grown by 3.3 percent over the same time period.”
“The federal health-care law was intended to create a uniform standard of health coverage across the U.S. But the law also is creating opportunities for states to pursue their own solutions.”
“While an unprecedented 6 million people have gained Medicaid coverage since September, mostly as a result of the Affordable Care Act, more than 1.7 million more are still waiting for their applications to be processed—with some stuck in limbo for as long as eight months, according to officials in 15 large states.”
“It wasn’t supposed to work this way, but since the Affordable Care Act took effect in January, Norton Hospital has seen its packed emergency room become even more crowded, with about 100 more patients a month.
That 12 percent spike in the number of patients — many of whom aren’t actually facing true emergencies — is spurring the Louisville hospital to convert a waiting room into more exam rooms.”
“There were 65 million people in Medicaid by the end of April, six million more than there had been on the eve of the launch of the health law, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
The success of the Affordable Care Act in growing Medicaid – a key aim of the 2010 law – is a main point of political debate. But figuring out how many actually signed up for the program for low-income Americans because of the law is complicated.”
“At least 2.9 million Americans who signed up for Medicaid coverage as part of the health care overhaul have not had their applications processed, with some paperwork sitting in queues since last fall, according to a 50-state survey by CQ Roll Call.”
“The cost to replace the Medicaid section of Nevada’s flawed online health insurance exchange will be $25 million, a state official told a legislative committee today.”
“Data reveal the deep challenge that Illinois, hospitals and insurance networks face to help many of the enrollees get their health under control and, in turn, hold down costs.”
“Missouri is seeing a bigger decline in its Medicaid rolls than nearly any other state, a ranking that the administration of Gov. Jay Nixon attributes to an improving economy and critics blame on application snafus.”
“The bond of trust between patient and physician has always been the essential ingredient in medicine, assuring that the patient receives individual attention and the best possible medical care. Yet often lost in the seemingly endless debate over the Affordable Care Act is how the health-care bureaucracy, with its rigid procedures and regulations, undermines trust and degrades care. In my pediatric ophthalmology practice, I have experienced firsthand how government limits a doctor’s options and threatens the traditional doctor-patient bond.”