Another contract standoff looms between United, Northside

Three months ago, two Northside hospitals in Gwinnett County went out of network with UnitedHealthcare, affecting thousands of the insurance company’s members. Looming now is the potential for other Northside hospitals — including the health system’s flagship facility in Atlanta — to drop off the United provider network as well, with possibly more patients affected….

Two rankings on health put Georgia at the bottom of states

For years, in rankings of health indicators by state, Georgia typically landed in the high 30s to low 40s. But never at the bottom. The Peach State, though, has been ranked 50th, ahead of only Oklahoma, in a comparison of states and Washington, D.C., on health care for seniors. It follows a Georgia ranking of…

Though facing the federal axe, state’s Medicaid waiver plans moving ahead

Georgia officials say they’re still working toward a July 1 launch of the waiver plan to add more people to the state’s Medicaid program, despite a harsh initial assessment by the Biden administration. The conflict with the feds involves the eligibility requirements that Georgia proposed and that the Trump administration approved. President Joe Biden, who…

Potential seen for big financial paybacks from insurers to Medicaid

The state’s Medicaid agency is setting up plans for a health insurer bidding competition that will award a new multibillion-dollar medical contract. “We’ll be looking for the best bang for the buck,’’ Frank Berry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), said last week at an agency board meeting. The current Medicaid insurers…

Rapidly growing Piedmont seeks deal with Augusta system

Piedmont Healthcare, fresh off a deal to buy four hospitals from HCA, is looking to continue its expansion into new areas of Georgia. The Atlanta-based system announced Wednesday that it has signed a letter of intent with University Health Care System in Augusta, exploring the possibility of adding it to the Piedmont family. University includes…

How are hospitals dealing with price transparency rule?

Jan. 1 marked the launch of a federal rule on medical prices that the hospital industry fought hard to stop. For the first time, each hospital was required to publish a website file showing the payment rates it had negotiated with insurers, and another post that would let consumers search for hundreds of “shoppable’’ medical…

For many, insurance doesn’t prevent high costs from prescriptions

Half of Americans take no prescription drugs. At the other end of the spectrum are people like Karen Milligan. She needs several drugs and pays a lot for them. She has dealt with multiple sclerosis for three decades. It’s disease of the central nervous system with no cure.  At 65, Karen is seeing her drug costs continue to increase, even for the…

Georgians taking advantage of special enrollment on exchange

More than 40,000 Georgians have signed up for health coverage on the state exchange since a special enrollment period began in February. That’s the third-highest total among the 36 states using federally run health insurance exchanges. Only the heavily populated states of Florida and Texas had more sign-ups, according to federal data through March 31….

Bills on patient visits, nursing home cameras fail to clear Georgia General Assembly

As the 2021 legislative session ended, Georgia lawmakers wound up not passing a bill to allow visits by a “legal representative’’ to patients in hospitals and nursing homes during a health emergency. The legislation ping-ponged Wednesday between the two chambers, with the House supporting its previous, stronger version, and the Senate holding firm to its…

Georgia vows to continue fight if feds kill state’s Medicaid waiver plan

Story updated Georgia officials, as expected, have appealed the new federal position on the state’s Medicaid waiver plan, saying its possible revocation by the Biden administration would be ‘‘an arbitrary and unlawful bait-and-switch.’’ The commissioner of the state’s Department of Community Health, in a letter dated March 12, noted that federal health officials last year…