Influential health interests are maneuvering a potential $19.4 billion infusion into Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, while also seeking a 2024 election initiative to permanently block that funding, KFF Health News has learned. The Coalition to Protect Access to Care, which includes groups representing doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and clinics, is lobbying Governor Gavin Newsom and … Read more
The federal government is reconsidering a decision that breast cancer patients, plastic surgeons and members of Congress have protested would limit women’s options for reconstructive surgery. On June 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to review how doctors are paid for a type of breast reconstruction known as a DIEP flap, in … Read more
States that want to increase access to buprenorphine, a life-saving drug used to treat opioid use disorder, should consider efforts to improve professional education and clinical knowledge, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Examining six state-level policies aimed at increasing buprenorphine use, the researchers found that requiring buprenorphine prescribers to receive additional education beyond … Read more