Medicaid

Potential cuts to Medicaid have Californians bracing for changes that could weaken recent gains in mental health care and addiction treatment.

California voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure that increases pay to doctors with Medi-Cal patients. The Newsom administration missed an early deadline to begin implementing it.

California is spending more than it expected on Medi-Cal and Republican lawmakers are pointing to coverage expansions that benefited immigrant households.

Without legislative action, taxes that fund Medicaid will sunset in the next two years, leaving a hole in the state’s budget.

Local service providers worry that the Trump administration’s goals to cut federal spending could have major impacts on countless services in rural communities.

Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, has hit a record 1.8 million enrollees and the number could climb higher ahead of a Jan. 31 open enrollment deadline, due in large part to enhanced subsidies that have made plans more affordable.

The hospital trade association said Medicaid only pays 56 cents for every dollar of service provided and that other costs are going up.

A new pilot program is offering free Medicaid benefits to about 4,000 19- and 20-year-olds with intellectual, physical or mental disabilities or certain mental or medical conditions like asthma and diabetes.

Oregonians’ health care could face more change than most states under the new federal administration, and Dr. Sejal Hathi, director of the state health authority, said officials are preparing to respond quickly as things happen.

Across the country, there’s a shortage of behavioral health care providers — and it’s particularly pronounced in small towns.

Oregon’s largest Medicaid provider, CareOregon, is making a policy change that some therapists say could reduce mental health services to low-income people.

An Oregon Health & Science University study found states cannot slow the opioid crisis solely with more flexibility to use Medicaid funding for addiction treatment.