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AI is being used to boost Medicaid enrollment, but not without concerns
Mark Kreidler, KFF Health News, Aug. 4
Artificial intelligence is being used to help people enroll in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. The AI program, named Angelica, is used by Kern Family Health Care. Angelica helps people in their preferred language to set up appointments with staff, who make sure applications are completed correctly. Kern says it is something that would otherwise require 40 full-time workers to do. However, the use of AI in this way has prompted worries about whether people are being improperly denied treatment or cut off from coverage, as well as concerns about job losses, algorithmic biases, and data privacy.
Medicaid’s work requirement crunch arrives
Maya Goldman, Axios, Aug. 3
The crunch period has started for states to get the word out and set up systems for Medicaid enrollees to report at least 80 hours a month of work, school, or volunteering, or get an exemption to maintain coverage. Those requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2027. In Nebraska, work requirements have already taken effect and those who fail to report on them will begin to lose coverage this week. Patients, providers, and advocates have been flooding the current administration with comments, urging changes to its directions for how states must implement the work requirements.
People with disabilities fear service cuts as Trump’s DOJ questions legal protections
Stephanie Armour, KFF Health News, Aug. 3
In Virginia, Amanda DeSimone-Shabrack is able to work and keep her high-needs autistic 12-year-old son at home, thanks to a home health care aide covered by the state’s Medicaid program. However, that could soon change. In June, the Department of Justice issued an opinion saying federal disability rights laws don’t require states to provide services that allow people with disabilities to remain in their homes rather than institutions. Advocacy groups worry this will prompt a return to forced institutionalization.
Rates of high blood pressure are rising in pregnant women, study finds
Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, July 29
One in 10 pregnant women in the U.S. had high blood pressure in 2024, up from about one in 17 in 2016, according to a new report. It is a 73 percent increase during that period. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy countries, and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are among the leading causes of pregnancy-related death and disease. Researchers identified racial disparities in the prevalence of high blood pressure. Rates were as high as 13 percent in non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native mothers, and as low as 7 percent for non-Hispanic Asian mothers.
Healthcare access dominates complaints from CT’s incarcerated
Katy Golvala, The Connecticut Mirror, Aug. 3
Health care access is one of the biggest concerns inmates have about the conditions inside Connecticut’s prisons. At a public hearing for the Correction Advisory Committee, more than 100 people shared testimony about the living conditions, including stories about not receiving timely health care. Among them was Alexis Rodriguez, who shared that when he was incarcerated at Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield, his stomach pain was not taken seriously until he needed emergency surgery and was diagnosed with cancer.