Medicaid is a joint state and federally run health care insurance program that, in part, pays for nursing home and extended care expenses for eligible seniors. Because nursing home expenses can easily exceed $7,000 per month, people who are planning ahead for long-term care can often take advantage of Medicaid to help pay for those expenses. Unfortunately, too many people don’t plan … read more
Medicaid
Many People Uninformed About Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often abbreviated as PPACA and commonly referred to as Obamacare, became law in 2010. Two years later, the Supreme Court of the United States heard a challenge to the law and issued a ruling stating it was, for the most part, constitutional. Yet despite all the media coverage about the debate leading up to the law, the vote, and its … read more
Medicaid Long-Term-Care Payments May Balloon
A new study says that Medicaid costs for long-term care may threaten the stability of the jointly run federal and state healthcare insurance program. According to the new study from the SCAN Foundation, about 70% of Americans will require some type of long-term care during their lifetimes. Most of such care comes at the end of a person’s life when a person has to transfer to a nursing … read more
What You Need to Talk to Your Aging Parents About Right Now
None of us are getting any younger, and for children of elderly parents there are some specific questions you need to ask your parents before it is too late. Talking to your parents about these issues is often very difficult, so you may want to think about how to bring up this discussion in advance and in a way that isn’t too confrontational or accusative. Here’s what you need to talk … read more
More States Open to Medicaid Expansion
The number of state governors opposed to accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid coverage continues to dwindle. Just recently Florida Governor Rick Scott indicated his willingness to adopt the expansion after having voiced strong opposition to the idea ever since the Supreme Court’s ruling on the law allowed states to choose to opt-out of the expansion provisions. Ever since the … read more
The Modernization of Medicaid by the States
Regardless of the decision by individual states to accept or reject the Medicaid expansion called for by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), all states have to make changes to their Medicaid enrollment systems in order to be in compliance with the PPACA provisions, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2014. And, according to the results of a state survey that was conducted … read more
22 States Favor Medicaid Expansion
Many of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) are set to go into effect at the end of this year, including the expansion of Medicaid. After the Supreme Court held that states could not be forced to expand their Medicaid offerings, the provision has become a lightning rod for both opponents and supporters of the PPACA. As a result, the PPACA is off to … read more
Woman Pleads Guilty in Medicaid Fraud Case
In early January a Shelby, North Carolina woman pled guilty to taking part in an $8 million Medicaid fraud scheme. Victoria Finlay Brewton, age 37, pled guilty to seven counts of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, as well as one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of filing a false tax return. She faces a minimum of two years in prison and a … read more
Election Means Healthcare Law Likely Permanent
Passed in 2010 and largely upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, now seems, in the wake of the presidential election, to be a permanent fixture in the laws of the country. There are several practical effects that this has on the nation. First, states will have to decide if they are going to … read more
Medicaid Opt-Out Could Cost Hospitals
As states continue to grapple with funding Medicaid and deciding whether or not to implement the Medicaid expansion as outlined in the Affordable Care Act, a new article in Forbes shows how choosing not to expand the program could lead to hospitals paying billions more in expenses. The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems recently analyzed the potential impact … read more
