Author: Mark Wrede

  “Republicans in Congress and several states, including Ohio, Iowa, and Montana, are pushing to implement work requirements for nondisabled adults, arguing a mandate would encourage enrollees to find jobs.”   States Push Medicaid Work Rules, but Few Programs Help Enrollees Find Jobs   For many years, […]

  “President Donald Trump’s firings at the Department of Health and Human Services included the entire office that sets federal poverty guidelines, which determine whether tens of millions of Americans are eligible for health programs such as Medicaid, food assistance, child care, and other services, […]

  “…rural hospital operators in recent years have enumerated a long list of concerns about the publicly funded, privately run health plans. In addition to the reimbursement issue, their complaints include payment delays and a resistance to authorizing patient care.”   Rural Hospitals Question Whether They […]

  “On April 1, the Trump administration slashed the organization that supported that research — the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ — and fired roughly half of its remaining employees as part of a perplexing reorganization of the federal Health and Human […]

  “…it’s widely acknowledged that prior authorization tends to disproportionately impact some of the sickest people who need the most expensive care.”   ‘They Won’t Help Me’: Sickest Patients Face Insurance Denials Despite Policy Fixes   HENRICO, Va. — Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of […]