Free Republic

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law legislation that officially brought the United States government into the business of providing health care. There were two major new programs created. Medicare was an insurance program for all individuals over age of 65, and it would be paid for by paycheck deductions that would be matched by employers. No senior who worked, or his spouse, would lack health care. The genesis of the second program was that America was a great and compassionate country, and we should not turn our back on those who cannot help themselves. We would “aid” them...

The ongoing rollback of Medicaid is a rare step to reverse the “ratcheting growth” of our social safety net. A "great unwinding" is very much underway in Medicaid programs nationwide, representing the most notable reversal of a government expansion since the welfare reforms of the 1990s. From March 2020 to March 2023, Medicaid enrollment soared by more than 22 million people, a surge even larger than the Medicaid expansions brought on by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This was primarily due to "continuous coverage" provisions in the coronavirus response that prevented states from conducting routine eligibility reviews—what bureaucrats call the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, struggling to convince Americans that he's improved their lives as he runs for reelection, hailed his administration's Tuesday announcement that several drugs would be targeted for Medicare's first-ever price negotiations. The drugs include the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance and eight other medications. The negotiation process was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed last year, capping decades of debate over whether the federal government should be allowed to haggle with pharmaceutical companies. Any lower prices won't take effect for three years, and the path forward could be further complicated by...

An Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) Medicaid document that was leaked reveals how the health insurer established a “COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Incentive program” to pay physicians for pushing COVID vaccines to their patients.

Five Medicaid healthcare insurers have violated Florida’s rule against using taxpayer funds to provide transgender treatments, and the state is now fining them for the action. It’s the first time any state has taken this step in regard to gender transition coverage. Among the procedures one of the plans covered was a double mastectomy on a 16-year-old girl. The other plans paid for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. Florida health officials sent out letters informing the providers they were being fined over the violation late Thursday. “These plans recklessly continued to cover these services with permanent, harmful effects,...

Caring for an elderly or permanently disabled family member is a gut-wrenching experience for many families. Not only that, but it’s expensive, often exhausting personal savings and resources. The United States, like many other rich countries, is aging fast, and that means more Americans with diminishing cognitive function and physical disabilities as well as the loss of independence. Providing such care is intensive. In the case of nursing homes, where residents have the most severe needs, round-the-clock attention is especially expensive. Most fund these things through the Medicaid program, but this can come with an unreasonably steep cost. The private...

The annual cost of New York’s public health insurance for the needy is set to shatter $100 billion for the first time — and the unrelenting migrant crisis could soon trigger even more of a spike, documents show. The state’s Medicaid program currently enrolls 7.8 million residents, with the staggering price tag for 2023-24 set at $108 billion, according to New York budget estimates. That’s nearly $10 billion more than last fiscal year’s $99 million budget. And beginning in January, the program will start providing medical coverage to an estimated 25,000 undocumented immigrants age 65 and over who are ineligible...

Rebecca Miller said her father was on Medicaid for about two years and she served as his caretaker at his home after he was diagnosed in 2018 with Parkinson's disease, from which he died last August. About 30 days later while still mourning David Miller's passing, the 36-year-old said she received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General's Office stating her father owed $56,000 to Medicaid Estate Recovery. The Medicaid collection program was foreign to the Clinton County woman, as it is to the vast majority of people, attorneys said. The state notice was a jolt, informing Miller that her...

The nation's top health official implored states to do more to keep lower-income residents enrolled in Medicaid, as the Biden administration released figures Friday confirming that many who had health coverage during the coronavirus pandemic are now losing it. Though a decline in Medicaid coverage was expected, health officials are raising concerns about the large numbers of people being dropped from the rolls for failing to return forms or follow procedures. In 18 states that began a post-pandemic review of their Medicaid rolls in April, health coverage was continued for about 1 million recipients and terminated for 715,000. Of those...

Despite two circuit courts ruling against HHS regulations seeking to compel genital mutilation surgeries by health care providers, HHS secretary Xavier Becerra threatens to find ways around the judicial restraints. Biden HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra threatens states and organizations that don't provide sex reassignment surgeries and puberty blockers for minors: "If you want that Medicaid dollar to come to your state, we're going to make sure you check the box." pic.twitter.com/YtwZXBEBfM — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 26, 2023Is there any other life-altering, irreversible change that the federal government wants children to be able to decide on by themselves?Is there any...

A federal judge has struck down Florida rules championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting Medicaid coverage for transgender treatments TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A federal judge on Wednesday struck down Florida rules championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for potentially thousands of transgender people. “Gender identity is real” and the state has admitted it, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle wrote in a 54-page ruling. He said a Florida health code rule and a new state law violated federal laws on Medicaid, equal protection and the Affordable Care Act's prohibition of sex discrimination.

Illinois is forecasting that its program to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants will cost the state $1 billion in 2024 – far more than the $2 million that Illinoisans were promised it would cost at the program’s inception, according to Wirepoints. In May 2020, Illinois became the first state to offer Medicaid for undocumented immigrants over the age of 65. Now-Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, then an Illinois state representative, sponsored the bill, and claimed the program would cost just $2 million per year. Unfortunately, this estimate was completely uninformed, with the program exceeding that in its first month. At the time,...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Medicaid will soon cover the cost of diapers for the first two years of a child’s life in Tennessee. “The cost of diapers is outrageous,” said Linda Buckingham as she held her 1-year-old niece. “It’s ridiculous, really.” “It will help my mom a lot,” said Treazon Ali. “It will help my sister a lot.” Tennessee will become the first state to cover diapers under Medicaid, according to the National Diaper Banks Network. “That is so cool,” said Machelle Jackson, a 10-year-old shopping with her mom. “I feel like it's cool for the parents that really don't have...

ANebraska state senator who has a transgender child is being investigated for a potential conflict of interest after she voted against a bill that would ban gender-affirming health care for minors. The complaint, filed Wednesday by Omaha lawyer David Begley, alleges Nebraska Democratic Sen. Megan Hunt could benefit financially from the failure of Legislative Bill 574, a measure that would bar health care providers from administering gender-affirming medical care to transgender patients younger than 19. Begley, in the complaint filed with the state’s Accountability and Disclosure Commission, wrote that Hunt and her child, who is a minor, “have a slightly...

President Biden is set to announce on Thursday an expansion of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchanges to include coverage for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, according to an Associated Press report. The measure will be a significant expansion for the DACA program, which allows some Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors — to live and work in the United States. It’s a boon for DACA beneficiaries, who both face the threat that the program could end and reduced access to social services where they do not...

Documents reveal that the federal government and insurers incentivized healthcare providers in Kentucky and California to vaccinate Medicaid patients against COVID-19 by offering bonuses based on the percentage of patients successfully vaccinated. ... The federal government and insurers incentivized healthcare providers in Kentucky and California to vaccinate Medicaid patients against COVID-19 by offering bonuses based on the percentage of patients successfully vaccinated. “[This is] truly sickening and I am embarrassed for my profession by this,” Dr. Meryl Nass, an internist and biological warfare epidemiologist, wrote on her Substack, where she posted several documents relating to the COVID-19 vaccine provider incentive...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — At the start of 2022, Thomas Marshall weighed 311 pounds. He had been hospitalized 10 times in five years, including six surgeries. He had an open wound on his left leg that refused to heal — made worse by living in a dirty, moldy house with five other people, two ball pythons, four Chihuahuas and a cage full of rats. Marshall’s story is part of a radical rethinking of the relationship between housing and health care in the U.S. For decades, Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program for people with disabilities or low...

The mainstream media coverage concerning President Biden’s remarks about Social Security during his State of the Union address and the Republican reaction has been remarkable in its ability to miss the point. Pundits sparred over whether the Republicans or Democrats won, when the real story is who lost in this sideshow. After all, it is the average, hard-working American who has paid into and therefore deserves Social Security. Unfortunately, everyday Americans who need to know whether or not they can rely on the trust fund received no worthy news coverage, and likely won’t for the next decade. During his speech,...

President Joe Biden’s (D) administration is reportedly allowing states to use Medicaid for food and nutritional counseling, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported Sunday that policy makers are trying to determine whether “food as medicine” programs can enhance health and also save money, the outlet said: A growing body of research suggests that addressing food insecurity can improve health as well as deliver savings by reducing medical visits, the need for medication, or by helping control serious illness. The programs have also appealed to some GOP lawmakers who believe states should have more control over their Medicaid...

President Joe Biden has been accusing Republicans of trying to cut Social Security and Medicare, but it was Biden who proposed that very thing back in 1995 when he was a senator debating the Balanced Budget Amendment. In a speech on the Senate floor on Jan. 31, 1995, then-Sen. Biden said that Congress should be honest with the American people about how much something will cost, and how Congress intends to balance the budget. […]I look at the polls out there. For example, I want to go on record, and I am up for reelection this year, and I will...