Medicaid

The Supreme Court allowed South Carolina to remove Planned Parenthood clinics from its state Medicaid program, even though Medicaid funds cannot generally be used to fund abortions.

Americans across the political spectrum like Medicaid and think it should get more funding, not less, according to a new poll from health research organization KFF.

On Thursday, the U.S. House narrowly passed a sweeping bill that slashes about $3.8 trillion in taxes by scaling back social safety net programs including Medicaid and SNAP.

President Trump and the Republican controlled congress are planning deep cuts to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 billion in tax breaks. This could knock off over 8 million people from Medicaid and reduce services for millions more. Texas rural hospitals will be especially hit hard along with Texas new mothers and children.

The federal program is the biggest source of money for long-term care for the elderly and disabled. Republican proposals to cut its budget could jeopardize supports family and caregivers rely on.

Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared before the Senate Finance committee Friday for his confirmation hearing to be the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Now that we have this coverage, what do we do to make sure women can get it?,” one health advocate said.

Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, revived his proposal for a Medicaid expansion program in case state or federal Republican leaders change their minds.

More than five dozen groups — including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Tarrant Area Food Bank — wrote in support of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's request for $300 million to improve processing times for Medicaid and SNAP applications.

Texas officials acknowledged some errors after they stripped Medicaid coverage from more than 2 million people, most of them children. A ProPublica and Texas Tribune review of records shows that these mistakes and others were preventable.