Many Medicaid Patients Skip Drugs That Could Prevent Heart Trouble

HealthDay – 1 hr 22 mins ago FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Many Medicaid recipients with chronic health conditions that can lead to heart disease -- diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol -- do not take their prescribed medications, a new study has found.

The researchers said failure to take medications leads to higher costs of care and an increased risk of hospitalization and even death.

They looked at 2008 and 2009 data from more than 150,000 Medicaid patients in New York City, aged 20 to 64, and found that only 63 percent of those with the three chronic conditions took their prescribed medications. Older patients and white and Asian patients were most likely to take their medications, while black and Hispanic patients were least likely.

"The outcome of this study is concerning, as it shows a large number of people with chronic conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease aren't taking prescribed medications, which could prevent a potential stroke or heart attack," lead author Dr. Kelly Kyanko, an instructor in the department of population health at the NYU Langone Medical Center, said in a center news release.

"We hope these findings will help local health authorities in the New York City area address this problem by creating programs to increase adherence rates, specifically in patient populations most at risk," Kyanko added.

The study was published online recently in the Journal of Urban Health.

"We believe that patients and their doctors can work to improve medication adherence through simple measures such as switching to once-a-day or combination pills, keeping a pill box and obtaining 90-day refills instead of 30-day refills for medications they take on a regular basis," Kyanko said.

High-risk patients may require more intensive interventions, such as working with a nurse or pharmacist to ensure they take their prescribed medications, she added.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death both in New York and in the United States, according to the release.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines ways to prevent heart disease.

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U.S. busts $108 million black market in Medicaid drugs

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U.S. busts $108 million black market in Medicaid drugs

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Medicaid official rules against Ind. abortion law

Indiana's decision to deny Planned Parenthood Medicaid funds because it performs abortions denies women the freedom to choose their health care providers, a federal hearing officer said.

The state had asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Chicago to reconsider its June 2011 ruling that found changes in Indiana's Medicaid plan unacceptable. But a hearing officer recommended in documents released Friday that a CMS administrator uphold the agency's initial decision.

The changes to Indiana's plan resulted from a 2011 law that would have made the state the first to deny the organization Medicaid funds for general health services, including cancer screenings. The law has been on hold while the dispute works its way through the courts.

The Indiana attorney general's office, which already is appealing a federal judge's order blocking the law, said it may also contest the panel's recommendation. The state had argued that the dispute should be decided administratively by the CMS, not in court.

"Because this is a recommendation, the Attorney General's Office has a chance to file an exception to it before the CMS administrator makes a final decision," the agency said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana said it was gratified by the decision.

"Through its appeal, the State was continuing its attack on women's rights and attempting to restrict access to basic, lifesaving services such as Pap tests, breast exams, STD testing and treatment, and birth control," Betty Cockrum, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, said in a statement.

While Planned Parenthood officials had feared they might have to close some of the organization's 28 clinics in Indiana or suspend some services because of a loss of Medicaid funds, that has not happened so far. Cockrum has said about 9,300 women rely on Planned Parenthood for their health care.

Indiana had argued that Medicaid funds intended to help groups like Planned Parenthood provide general health care would indirectly subsidize abortions. The Hyde Amendment, a 1976 provision named after the late Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., bans all federal funds for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk.

The state also said Planned Parenthood could continue to receive Medicaid funding if it established separate fiscal entities for abortion and other health care. But CMS said such an option was premature.

Hearing officer Benjamin Cohen wrote that the Indiana law violated the federal requirement that individuals must have the freedom to obtain care from any qualified provider. Restricting that choice just because a care provider also offers non-covered care isn't allowed, he wrote.

Indiana asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago last August to lift U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt's June 24, 2011, preliminary injunction blocking parts of the abortion law. The court has not yet ruled.

Another federal appeals court ruled in May that Texas cannot ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds, at least until a lower court has a chance to hear formal arguments. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that there's sufficient evidence the state's law preventing Planned Parenthood from participating in the Women's Health Program is unconstitutional.

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Many Kids on Medicaid Don't See Dentist: Study

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Medicaid Expansion Is a Key Part of Affordable Care Act

HealthDay – 3 mins 2 secs ago THURSDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- The Medicaid program is bracing for an expansion that will bring an estimated 16 million more Americans into the health-care safety net, as required by the Affordable Care Act.

But whether that happens depends on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the legal challenges to the massive health-care reform legislation.

Twenty-six states are challenging the requirement to comply with the new Medicaid eligibility rule or lose federal matching funds, calling it coercive and a violation of states' rights. On March 28, they will argue before the Supreme Court that that provision of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.

The Medicaid expansion opens eligibility to all people with household incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level -- whether unemployed or the so-called working poor -- starting in January 2014. That translated into an annual income of approximately $14,850 for an individual and $30,650 for a family of four in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Until now, the main groups of people served by the Medicaid program have been low-income parents and children, the frail elderly and the disabled.

The Medicaid expansion provision is considered more likely to survive the legal challenge than the Affordable Care Act's most controversial provision: the individual mandate, which requires most adults to have health insurance or pay a fine.

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