Medicare & Medicaid

Insurers are picking up more of the cost of prescription pain drugs, according to a study linking that trend with the rise in opioid-related deaths.

1,900 women across the state were automatically transferred from the exchange to Medi-Cal since October, even though they were supposed to have the option to stay with Covered California.

Changing the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 years old would actually increase the nation's total healthcare spend since that two-year gap would be covered by private insurers that charge more for services than the federal government, according to a new report in Health Affairs.

The bonuses are small, generally a fraction of a percent of their Medicare payments. Nonetheless, rewarding hospitals of mediocre quality was hardly the stated goal when the Affordable Care Act created financial incentives to encourage better medical care from hospitals, doctors and other health care providers.

The plan takes into account feedback from 60 individuals and 150 organizations.

Proposed regulations released last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are raising concerns that the playing field is uneven, with 87 percent of solo practitioners getting penalized and 81 percent of clinicians in large groups earning bonuses, according to some estimates.

A surging interest in Medicare Advantage among the retirement-aged population and the fast-consolidating ranks of private payers has some experts asking whether the program might be the future of Medicare overall.

Aetna expects its proposed $37 billion acquisition of Humana to close during the second half of 2016, Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini said during an investor call Thursday while commenting on the insurer's first quarter financial results.

Currently, doctors are paid for things such as tests, treatments and other procedures, but not necessarily for spending time with patients to learn more about their health or develop a treatment plan. Officials say the new payment program will change that.

Administration officials moved Thursday to improve low Medicaid enrollment for emerging prisoners, urging states to start signups before release and expand eligibility to thousands of former inmates in halfway houses near the end of their sentences.