Patients in rural northeastern Nevada soon will have fewer providers and resources, after a local hospital decided to close its medical residency program. Nationally, the number of rural residency slots has grown during the past few years but still makes up just 2% of programs and residents nationwide.
Despite record enrollment in health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, some consumers who bought coverage and agents who helped them do so have had a tough start to the new year: Many say it’s hard to find an in-network doctor or hospital.
Hospitals are facing mixed reviews regarding their efforts to comply with a federal requirement that they post information about prices related to nearly every health care service they provide.
A federal lawmaker has introduced a House bill that would close one of a laundry list of oversight gaps revealed in a recent KHN investigation of the system regulators use to ban fraudsters from billing government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has morphed into an unwieldy monster that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New federal rules may not be enough to tame it.
Hospitals in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma are among the first to apply for a new rural hospital payment model that shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.
The removals, detailed in emails between state and federal health officials, hinged on disagreements over how states could disenroll people during the public health emergency. Consumer advocates fear the alleged violation signals the mess to come on April 1, when the pandemic-era Medicaid coverage mandate ends.
States are trying to reach millions of Medicaid enrollees to make sure those still eligible remain covered and help others find new health insurance.
As the federal government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected. “A dog would get better care than he did,” one resident’s wife said.
In a surprise decision, U.S. officials yield to insurance industry demands — at least for now.
