Category: Massachusetts

Republicans Aim To Punish States That Insure Unauthorized Immigrants

A GOP tax-and-spending bill the House approved Thursday would slash federal Medicaid reimbursement for states that offer health coverage to immigrants without legal status.

Housing, Nutrition in Peril as Trump Pulls Back Medicaid Social Services

About half of states have broadened Medicaid, the state-federal low-income health care program, to pay for social services such as housing and nutritional support. The Trump administration, however, views these experiments as distractions from the core mission to provide health care.

Despite Historic Indictment, Doctors Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills Across State Lines

When a New York physician was indicted for shipping abortion medications to a woman in Louisiana, it stoked fear across the network of doctors and medical clinics who engage in similar work. But some physicians vowed not to stop.

In Rural Massachusetts, Patients and Physicians Weigh Trade-Offs of Concierge Medicine

A stressed primary care system has led many doctors to start practices that charge membership fees in exchange for shorter waits and longer appointments. Observers say the doctor shortage needs a more systemic fix.

Sent Home To Heal, Patients Avoid Wait for Rehab Home Beds

Many patients ready to leave the hospital end up lingering for days or weeks — occupying beds that others need and driving up costs — because of a lack of open spots at nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. A few health systems are addressing this problem by moving post-acute rehab into the home.

Iowa Medicaid Sends $4M Bills to Two Families Grieving Deaths of Loved Ones With Disabilities

States are required to claw back health care costs from the estates of many Medicaid recipients. Some, including Iowa, are particularly aggressive in their pursuit.

As States Diverge on Immigration, Hospitals Say They Won’t Turn Patients Away

California and Massachusetts are teaching immigrants their rights while Florida and Texas are collecting patients’ immigration status. As states offer differing guidelines for interacting with immigrant patients, hospitals around the U.S. say they won’t turn people away for care because of their immigration status.

Patients Couldn’t Pay Their Utility Bills. One Hospital Turned to Solar Power for Help.

Doctors in Boston got tired of writing letters to utility companies asking for assistance for their medically vulnerable patients who need power and heat to stay healthy. So a hospital decided to share the power its solar panels generate with patients who needed help with their electricity and gas bills.

Helene and CVS Land Double Whammy for 25,000 Patients Who Survive on IV Nutrition

A Massachusetts woman ended up stranded in the hospital because CVS stopped providing the IV nutrition she needs to survive at home. Without it, she’d starve.

Nursing Aides Plagued by PTSD After ‘Nightmare’ Covid Conditions, With Little Help

A KFF Health News investigation reveals that employers and the government have offered nursing aides little assistance for PTSD and other ongoing maladies triggered by hazardous work during the pandemic.