Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Over 600,000 Uninsured Veterans Fall In 'Medicaid Gap'
More than 600,000 veterans will go without health insurance next year unless 19 states stop holding out against expanding Medicaid, researchers said Wednesday. A new report from the Urban Institute finds that 604,000 veterans fall into the so-called "Medicaid gap" — they are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but they make too much money to qualify for federal subsidies to buy health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. (Fox, 9/29)
More than 600,000 military veterans are likely to be without health coverage next year unless more states expand income eligibility for the Medicaid program, researchers at the Urban Institute reported Wednesday. (Pugh, 9/28)
The Veterans Affairs Department turned over documents to Congress on Wednesday in response to a subpoena demanding information about how the cost of a Denver-area VA hospital soared more than $1 billion over budget. VA spokeswoman Linda West said the department gave the House Veterans Affairs Committee some of the documents that lawmakers wanted and that more were on the way. (Elliott, 9/28)
The VA for years has bought private care for veterans at its own discretion. But the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act made getting that care a right for a significant number of veterans. And, after a slow start, top VA officials last year told local health care systems that they had to use it. That wreaked havoc on local VA facilities that already were relying heavily on the private sector to treat veterans – without the complications of going through a middleman. (Romney, 9/28)
