Contents tagged with medicaid
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Court upholds subsidies in ACA
Health care organizations and millions of people across the country can breathe a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court has upheld the subsidies established by the Affordable Care Act that help about 6.4 million Americans purchase health insurance on the federal exchange. Had the court struck down those subsidies, more than one million Texans might have lost their coverage.
President Obama addressed the nation from the White House shortly after the ruling was announced, saying there could be no doubt that the ACA is working and that the law is here to stay.
“Today is a victory for hardworking Americans all across this country whose lives will continue to become more secure in a changing economy because of this law,” the president said.
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Report from TACHC, TAFP says Supreme Court ruling could worsen growing consequences to Texas’ refusal to expand Medicaid coverage
More than 1 million Texans might lose their health insurance if the Supreme Court rules against the Obama administration this month in King v. Burwell. Such a ruling would deny premium subsidies to Texans and residents of 35 other states that refused to establish state exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.
Texas’ decision not to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act already leaves more than a million low-income, uninsured Texans without access to Medicaid or to federal subsidies to help them purchase insurance. A new report, “How will Texas’ Affordable Care Act Implementation Decisions Affect the Population? A Closer Look,” written by health care law and policy experts at George Washington University and commissioned by the Texas Association of Community Health Centers and TAFP examines the effects of that decision and the compounded damage to the state’s economy and health care infrastructure that would accompany a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the plaintiff.
“The combined effects of not expanding Medicaid and the potential impact of King v. Burwell will hit Texas’ health care system hard,” according to the report. “County‐level estimates show that prior to implementation of the ACA, 38 counties experienced hospital annual uncompensated care levels of $50 million or greater, and four counties showed losses greater than $200 million. Texas’ failure to adopt the Medicaid expansion, coupled with the loss of premium subsidies as a result of a decision against the government in King would reverse the progress that has been made in reducing the number of uninsured Texans. Furthermore, hospitals could find that the demand for charity care actually rises, as thousands of previously‐insured people with serious health conditions turn to their hospitals for help.”
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Missed opportunities in the 84th Texas Legislature
By Tom Banning
TAFP CEO/EVPYogi Berra famously said I hate making predictions, especially about the future. It’s particularly painful when those predictions come true as was the case for many of the predictions TAFP made at the outset of the 84th Texas Legislature on how health care issues would fare this session.
Playing to their primary voters, the House and Senate focused attention almost solely on tax cuts, border security, transportation, when and where you can carry a gun, and a host of other mostly inconsequential partisan ideas.
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The clock is winding down on the Texas Legislature
The clock is winding down on the Texas Legislature
posted 5.27.15
With less than a week left in the 84th Texas Legislature, many bills TAFP has been tracking have passed the House and the Senate … more
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All hands on deck
By Dale Ragle, MD
TAFP President, 2014-2015Welcome colleagues to a new year, a new Congress, and a new Texas Legislature. On all fronts, health care is evolving. These changes present family physicians tremendous opportunities to shape our future health care system. It’s up to all of us as family physicians to advocate for our specialty in the halls where decisions are made that affect our patients and our practices.
In Washington, D.C., the 114th Congress is well under way and is busy on a number of health care issues. AAFP’s advocacy work is focused on fixing Medicare’s broken payment model, changing Meaningful Use requirements, delaying ICD-10, and reforming graduate medical education funding. Another area in which AAFP is concentrating efforts is in making payment for direct primary care services a qualified health benefit under IRS rules. This would enable patients to pay for direct primary care with pre-tax HSA and FLEX account dollars, a move that would aid the expansion of this emerging and promising model of practice.
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New contraceptive options available for Medicaid and TWHP patients
New contraceptive options available for Medicaid and TWHP patients
posted 8.27.14
Long-acting reversible contraception products became available Aug. 1, 2014 as a pharmacy benefit for female … more
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What you need to know about pre- and post-payment EHR audits
What you need to know about pre- and post-payment EHR audits
By David Nilasena, M.D.Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Southwest Region
An eligible … more
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Stage 2 of the electronic health record incentive programs: Building from Stage 1
Stage 2 of the electronic health record incentive programs: Building from Stage 1
By David Nilasena, M.D.Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Southwest Region … more
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Family medicine under the dome in the 83rd Texas Legislature
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By Jonathan Nelson
After all the heated controversy and partisan polemics that characterized this summer’s special sessions of the 83rd Texas Legislature, it’s difficult to … more
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Opening soon: The health insurance marketplace
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By Samantha White
Since the signing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, you’ve probably had many patients come to you for answers to a host of questions, but you can expect an … more