Latest news with #HealthandWelfare
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Are you dually enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare? Here's what to know on Idaho switching contractors
Only 2,000 Idahoans dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid chose a specific insurance plan so far. But there's 90 days to decide. (Getty Images) Idaho is switching contractors that run health insurance plans for vulnerable patients. Starting June 1, the private health insurance companies running Idaho Medicaid and Medicare's plans will change to Molina Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare. That will only apply to the about 27,000 Idahoans who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, said Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter. Over half of them were already enrolled in an insurance plan run by a private company, called managed care. People dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid qualify for disabilities, low income and age. Many patients have already been automatically enrolled in one of the new duals insurance plans. But patients will have 90 days, or until Aug. 30, to pick, McWhorter told the Sun in an email. Only 2,000 people chose a specific insurance plan so far, after Health and Welfare sent out letters in March, he said on May 22. 'Many people haven't chosen a new plan because they like the plan they will be enrolled in if they do not make a selection. But we want to be sure that everyone who wants to make an active choice does so,' he said. Idaho's dual Medicaid and Medicare offers two types of plans. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX For people dually eligible, Medicaid generally covers costs not fully covered by Medicare, such as for nursing homes and home and community-based services, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both of the new Idaho companies, Molina and United, will be required to honor existing patient authorizations for the first 90 days of the contract, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare says. Health and Welfare is winding down readiness reviews of the new companies and hasn't spotted any concerning issues, Idaho Medicaid Deputy Director Juliet Charron told the Idaho Capital Sun in a May 19 interview. 'Could there be bumps in the road? Of course,' she said. But that's why she said Idaho officials are communicating proactively. People who have questions or concerns should reach out to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, or United or Molina, she said. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has resources about the contract change available online on a frequently asked questions webpage. Patients can also contact Health and Welfare, or the new insurance companies. Here's how: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare: Website: Email: IdahoDuals@ Phone: 833-814-8568 UnitedHealthcare Website: Phone: 866-785-1628 for Medicaid participants, or 855-819-5909 for providers Molina Healthcare of Idaho: Website: Phone: 866-403-8293 for Medicaid participants, or 844-239-4914 for providers The health insurer Blue Cross of Idaho previously ran Idaho's dual Medicaid and Medicare plans. Last year, Idaho went out for a competitive bid for the contract for the first time. Initially, there was a six-month gap starting this June when Blue Cross's contract ended and United would've started, Idaho Reports reported in January. But since then, Health and Welfare has worked with the new insurance companies to start June 1. One United plan is available starting Jan. 1, 2026. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBC
12-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Health care's taking a backseat in this election. That's a missed opportunity, expert says
Social Sharing In this federal election period, the twists and turns of tariffs, annexation threats and other surprises from the Trump administration have stolen focus from addressing the state of public healthcare in Canada. A leading expert on health law and policy experts says that's a shame. "We are in an emergency situation in Canadian health care, and we have been for a couple of years post pandemic," said Colleen Flood, who is also dean of law at Queen's University. An estimated 6.5 million Canadians don't have access to a family doctor and one-third of those who do find it difficult to get an appointment. Patients waited 222 per cent longer to see a specialist in 2024 than they did in 1993, ranking Canada the worst in wait times of all high-income universal healthcare countries. Across the country, more Canadians are paying out of pocket for health care that the Canada Health Act says should be available to them in the public system. Virtual private-pay family medicine is readily available, and most provinces and territories now have in-person clinics as well. In November 2024, CBC Radio's White Coat, Black Art visited a busy private-pay family medicine clinic in Vaudreuil, Que., where patients pay $150 to see a family doctor for 15 minutes. Flood told White Coat, Black Art host Dr. Brian Goldman that this election is an opportunity for voters to demand the next federal government provide Canadians with the healthcare they need. Here is an excerpt from their conversation. The Canada Health Act includes an expectation of "reasonable access" to healthcare. Can you define it? We all have a sense of what the bare minimum is, right? We want access to a family care team or a family doctor. We all want access to tests and diagnostic methods and specialists and hospitals within a reasonable time period. The Canada Health Act sets out criteria: reasonable access, which is a bit of a joke at the moment; comprehensiveness, of hospital and physician services, effectively; [and] portability — you should be able to get health care where you need it across Canada. The only way those criteria can be enforced is if the federal government uses its discretion to withhold money. The feds have never used their discretionary power to keep back money from a province that is allowing wait times to grow or not ensuring that everybody has access to a family doctor…. They're quite nervous about using a hammer rather than a carrot to get where they want to go. WATCH | Lining up for a chance to get a family doctor: Hundreds wait in the snow to get a family doctor in rural Ontario 3 months ago Duration 2:03 You have written extensively about how the Canada Health Act could be strengthened or at least better enforced. Have a go at that. That's a lovely thing to talk about. The Canada Health Act has been an incredible tool for Canadians since [former Minister of Health and Welfare] Monique Bégin brought it to pass. But it needs to evolve, in particular around reasonable access. I think the Canada Health Act should be overhauled so that the federal government requires the provinces to have a fair, transparent process to determine what reasonable access is. What does that mean for us in New Brunswick, in Manitoba, in Saskatchewan in terms of access to a family health-care team or a nurse practitioner or a primary care doctor? In terms of maximum wait times, in terms of coverage?…. And then this is revisited from time to time to make sure that it's updated to change with our needs, because our needs do change. Any idea what the federal parties are saying about what's happening in this current election environment? With the very serious situation in the U.S., health care is unfortunately taking a back seat. And that is a real shame because we are in an emergency situation in Canadian health care, and we have been for a couple of years post pandemic. We need the parties to speak to their plans for improving public medicare. And Canadians must hold their feet to the fire on this. I counsel everyone to ask their candidates about what they specifically will do to make sure that everybody has access to the care that they need. A lot of public health care in Canada came to pass after the Depression and World War II, where people realized that medicare should be available to everybody. So maybe this will actually bring us together more around the importance of public health care, that we need to protect it. What would you like to see the party leaders saying about the future of health care during this election period? Honestly, I'd like to see them say anything about what they will do. Conservatives may involve more private for-profit care inside of public medicare. The Liberals may involve more of a [mix] of getting there. The NDP may prefer more public hospitals, perhaps more salaried physicians, and moving more to an NHS-style system like you see in the U.K. Everybody may have their different recipe for improvement, but I think that's what Canadians need to hear: What are your plans? What will you actually do? And how will you ensure that myself and my family are going to be able to get the care when we need it? I want to close by asking you, what should voters be listening for during this election period when it comes to health care? Voters should be looking to parties to acknowledge that we are actually in a crisis, we're in an emergency, and that we need to take very significant steps very quickly to fix medicare. It is simply unacceptable that 6.5 million Canadians do not have reasonable access to the most basic of care, family medicine. It is even worse than that they are queuing up and desperate for care, clogging up ERs and so on, waiting to a point where the condition that could have been dealt with has got away on them. So what we want to see is that the parties are taking this crisis, this emergency, extremely seriously, and they have a serious plan to deal with it.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump administration cuts funds to state health departments. Idaho could lose millions
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare could lose millions of dollars in the latest round of federal funding cuts from the Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled over $12 billion in federal grants to states to help fight infectious diseases, provide addiction treatment, mental health services and other health-related issues, The New York Times reported Wednesday. State health departments were notified Monday that the funds, apportioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, would be terminated immediately, according to The Times. It's unclear how much of the funds were allocated to Idaho. A spokesperson for Health and Welfare did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions or a request for a list of the rescinded grants. Idaho Gov. Brad Little's press secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Health and Human Services website that tracks government grants, also known as TAGGS, shows that Idaho was awarded a nearly $2.3 million grant this year from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as S.A.M.H.S.A., for substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery services and about $1.3 million for community health services. Health and Welfare was also awarded with more than $1.3 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 'public health crisis response' and other funds for sexually transmitted disease prevention and tuberculosis elimination. The Times reported that the discontinued grants include about $1 billion from S.A.M.H.S.A. and $11.4 billion from the CDC. Congress had authorized the funds for state public health programs as part of COVID-19 relief bills. The grants were initially used for testing and vaccination during the pandemic, but has since been approved to be used to combat other urgent public health concerns, toward other urgent public health concerns. State health officials told The Times that the cuts mean thousands of health department employees and contract workers across the country could lose their jobs. Alex Adams, the governor's former budget chief and director of Health and Welfare since June, was appointed to a position in the Trump administration on Tuesday, according to a news release. Adams will serve as assistant secretary for the Administration of Children and Families at Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Ex-Idaho prisoner who complained about medical care sentenced on felony charge Emergency abortions are now allowed — at only some Idaho hospitals, judge rules Idaho lawmakers OK death penalty expansion that was struck down by Supreme Court
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho bill would let public assistance fraud investigators access tax records
The Pete T. Cenarrusa state office building in Boise, the longtime headquarters for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Division of Medicaid. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Mountain Sun) The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday introduced a bill to let state government agencies share state tax information to help with public assistance fraud investigations. The bill was brought by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, a state government agency that runs public assistance programs like SNAP, formerly known as food stamps; Medicaid; and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. Right now, Health and Welfare can use subpoenas to seek bank records to assemble income information for benefit fraud investigations, but that process is intrusive, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief Jared Larsen told the committee. And he said the agency's subpoenas aren't necessarily binding on financial institutions outside of Idaho, which don't always respond. The new bill introduced would let the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare enter into an agreement with the Idaho State Tax Commission that would let the state tax agency share people's income tax return records and information to assist with public assistance fraud investigations. The bill's statement of purpose said sharing tax information 'would drastically reduce the investigative time spent on a fraud case and allow for more efficient use of investigators' time.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX None of that information shared with Health and Welfare, the bill says, would be made public 'unless it is used in the course of a judicial proceeding arising under the laws of this state.' Health and Welfare has been working on the proposal for two years, Larsen told the committee. He also said the Idaho State Tax Commission didn't have any objections to it. The committee introduced the bill on a unanimous voice vote with little discussion. Introducing the bill tees it up for a full committee hearing, including public testimony and a possible vote to advance it to the Idaho House floor. The bill is expected to be publicly available shortly on the Idaho Legislature's website. If passed into law, the bill would take effect July 1. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
