Author: Howard Green

23 Jul MEDICAID COSTS PUT EMPHASIS ON RECOVERY EFFORTS

In 1965, Title XIX of the Social Security Act established the Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to low-income individuals. Over time it has developed into one of the nation's largest payers for health care, covering one out of five Americans. In FY 2017,...

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28 Jun CMS AUDITS OVER MEDICAID IMPROPER PAYMENTS

Recent reports from the HHS OIG and the Louisiana Auditor General have indicated a high rate of Medicaid improper payments due to incorrectly determining Medicaid eligibility. The Senate Finance Committee wrote CMS on March 1st to inform the agency of their concerns over the...

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17 May HB 3388 SEES SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

2019 has been a busy year for healthcare legislation in Texas and one bill, in particular, aimed to carve out PBM’s entirely. House Representative J.D. Sheffield (R) introduced HB 3388 on March 6th in an attempt to reform the delivery of prescription drugs to a...

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17 Apr THE IMPACT OF MEDI-CAL’S PHARMACY CARVE OUT

At the beginning of the year, California’s governor signed an executive order directing DHCS to adopt a fee-for-service model for Medi-Cal. Under the order, California would consolidate its purchasing power and leverage the state’s population size to achieve lower drug costs by purchasing in...

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10 Apr REDUCING MEDICAID’S PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

Since state Medicaid programs are responsible for the healthcare of several populations, skyrocketing prescription drug costs have become a major budgetary concern. Currently, health care spending is dominating many of their budgets and on a per capita basis, inflation-adjusted retail prescription drug spending has increased...

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29 Mar SENATORS QUESTION OVERSIGHT OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS

Medicaid has been designated a high-risk program by the GAO since 2003 due to its size, growth, diversity and oversight challenges regarding improper payments, appropriate use of program dollars, and data. In fiscal year 2018, improper payments represented about 9.8% of the program's total spending...

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22 Mar HOW TRUMP’S 2020 BUDGET PROPOSAL AFFECTS MEDICAID

The Trump administration released its 2020 budget proposal on Monday and it gives some insight into the president’s priorities. The budget includes $1.9 trillion in cost savings for Medicaid and other safety net programs. According to the administration, A Budget For A Better...

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28 Feb STATES TAKE ACTION TO REDUCE MEDICAID PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

In 2018’s legislative session, 45 laws were passed by 28 states to address the problem of prescription drug costs. Apart from these legislative efforts, administrative actions are also being taken to improve the management of Medicaid pharmacy benefits spending. Ohio, West Virginia, and California are...

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