The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives about

Oklahoma’s “Life-Preserving” Law Raises Questions for Doctors

Oklahoma’s new “life-preserving” law guarantees end-of-life treatment to patients if they wish. It was inspired by the Terri Schiavo case in Florida.

Lack of Competition Might Hamper Health Exchanges

The health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are supposed to give consumers a menu of coverage choices. But will insurers agree to participate?

New Database Reveals Thousands of Hospital Violation Reports

For the first time, vital information on the quality and safety of the nation’s hospitals has been made available to the public online.

Combating Medicaid Fraud and Abuse

States are targeting Medicaid fraud and abuse with an array of policies and tools. To help policy makers learn about steps taken in their state and across the country, the State Health Care Spending Project created an online database containing hundreds of practices found to be promising by state and federal Medicaid agencies.

Seizing Medicaid Expansion as a Means to Reform

Alabama aims to make its Medicaid program more efficient, before expanding it. Under consideration is a regional care plan developed in Oregon.

Health Care Spending Slowdown? Not for States and Localities

While total U.S. health care spending grew slowly in 2011, rising about 4 percent, the story for state and local governments was dramatically different.

New Data Show Medicaid Spending Growth Declined in 2011

For the third year in a row, new data from the federal government shows that Medicaid, and health care spending generally, is growing slower than before the recession. Spending per beneficiary actually went down.

Big Drug Compounders Poorly Regulated

Tainted medicine made by a New England pharmacy has killed at least 39 people and triggered a debate about how best to regulate the nation’s drug supply.

Q&A: State Health Care Costs

Experts from Pew and the MacArthur Foundation explain why states are seeking to better understand state health care costs and how the State Health Care Spending Project will find and share the answers.

In Massachusetts, Mobilizing Private Investment for Public Good

Massachusetts to tap private investors who want to help pay for money-saving public programs

Accountable Care Explained: An Experiment in State Health Policy

The Affordable Care Act and state fiscal pressures have spawned an array of new Medicaid cost containment and quality improvement schemes. Among the most ambitious is a health care delivery system whose components are called accountable care organizations (ACOs).

State Health Insurance Plans Due to Feds

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked states to submit their benchmark health insurance plans —or “minimum benefits” — by Monday (October 1), a major milestone in the implementation of President Obama’s health care law. Some states are expected to let the deadline pass.

A New Health Care Initiative in Arkansas

Arkansas ranks near the bottom among states in health and income. But it’s much closer to the top when it comes to rising health care costs — they’ve doubled in just the past decade. Reduced benefits and lower provider fees have not halted the escalation.

S.C. State Workers Challenge Health Insurance Hike

This year, the South Carolina legislature budgeted to give state workers, university employees and teachers their first raise in four years in exchange for increasing what they contribute to their retirement plans.

Massachusetts Tackles Health Costs

Controlling health care expenses may be even harder than covering the uninsured. Massachusetts is launching the nation’s broadest effort.

Mississippi Tops List Of Fattest States — Again

For the seventh straight year, Mississippi has claimed a dubious title: the nation’s fattest state. That’s according to the latest estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2011, nearly 35 percent of adult Mississippians were considered obese, according to data released on Monday (Augu

States Find Laws Against Sports Head Injuries Tricky to Enact

Everyone wants to reduce the number of head injuries suffered by young athletes. But deciding just how to do that is more complicated than it might seem.

For Some States, Medicaid Expansion May Be a Tough Fiscal Call

GOP governors appear poised to leave federal dollars on the table.

States Push to Contain Health Costs

Medicaid budget numbers look a little better in some states this year. That has made states more creative about investing in long-term ways to control costs. Part five in a week-long series.

Insurance Plans Fall Short of Health Law Standards

A new study says individual insurance plans often fail to meet the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act.

Utah is Fifth State to Adopt 'Health Care Compact'

Utah has joined four other states in a compact aimed at wresting control of Medicare and Medicaid from the federal government. But the proposal would require congressional approval.

Best of #StateReads: California Legislators Flip-Flop When the Voting's Done

This week's extraordinary journalism about state government, tagged to #StateReads on Twitter.

New Rules Could Save Billions in Prescription Drug Costs

HEALTH BEAT: The federal government is proposing to help states cut prescription costs by creating a national database of prices pharmacies pay for the drugs they dispense.

State of the States 2012

States face a tough economic climate in the wake of the Great Recession. Sue Urahn discusses the top three challenges for states in the year ahead.

A Costly Dental Destination

Already stressed state budgets are shouldering an extra burden to cover expensive emergency room (ER) treatment for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments, according to a new report by the Pew Center on the States.

Medicaid: A Year of Excruciating Decisions

PART THREE OF FIVE: For state health officials, rising Medicaid rolls and declining federal support add up to only one scenario: a year of ever tighter budgets.

Study: Medical Homes Saved North Carolina Nearly $1 Billion

HEALTH BEAT: The use of medical homes- a method of coordinating medical services that relies on primary care physicians to manage patients' care - is gaining momentum across the country. The national health law encourages it. But until recently, few studies have documented how much it can reduce costs.

Indiana Places a Big Bet on Consumer-Driven Health Insurance

If Americans have to pay more money out of pocket to get health care, will they use the system more wisely? One state has invested heavily in the idea that they will.

Oregon Banks on Community Health Care

The state's new system is designed to be a throwback to the days of old-fashioned family doctors.

Report: Six States Changing the Way Health Care is Governed

HEALTH BEAT: Fiscally strapped states are using more managed care, cutting doctors' fees and limiting drugs and medical services to contain rising Medicaid costs. A few are taking a broader approach to health care spending.

Will Health Insurance Ever Get Cheaper?

One of the goals of the federal health care law is to bring down the cost of insurance premiums. So far, it hasn't done that. Some new rules about to take effect could stir up some change. But many are skeptical that they will.

In California, Adult Day Care Program is Threatened With Extinction

One of the nation's most successful state health care programs stands to lose the bulk of its funding. The move may cost California more money than it saves.

Managed Care Explained: Why a Medicaid Innovation is Spreading

After two decades of experimenting with managed care in Medicaid, a growing number of states are expanding its use. Here's a primer on what's driving the growth in managed care, and why states are hopeful about cost savings even as critics say they should be cautious.

Where Labor is Weak, State Workers Face Huge Cutbacks

As the nation debates collective bargaining in Wisconsin, public workers in Alabama, Texas and many other states are fighting over massive pay cuts, huge increases in health premiums and basic civil service protections.

One State's Hospital Cost Solution: Regulated Prices

While every other state lets the market determine hospital costs, Maryland treats them as a government responsibility. Up to now, it has worked pretty well, but reforms may be needed.

A Health Care Q&A With Alabama Governor Robert Bentley

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - One of two governors to have worked previously as a doctor, Bentley is seeking to pass a Republican alternative to what he sees as a "federal takeover" of health care.

Massachusetts Tackles Health Care Costs

The Bay State's landmark health care law was meant to cover everyone, much like the federal law. It has worked, but the costs have been astronomical. Now the state is trying to clamp down on expenses.

Governors Set the Agenda For a Lean 2011

In yet another tough budget year, the nation's governors are generally setting a course for contracting the ambitions and role of state government.

Setting Up Health Insurance Exchanges, States Face Big Decisions

One of the biggest tasks states face under the new federal health care law is upon them. In the coming months, states have a lot of choices to make about how they want the private health insurance market to operate.

Health Care Budgets in Critical Condition

Ever since Congress passed a sweeping health care reform law last year, states have been split into two groups moving essentially in opposite directions.

In Oregon, a New Health Care Debate Awaits

PORTLAND, Oregon - In Oregon, the health care debate is taking on a different twist. Incoming governor John Kitzhaber wants to "fundamentally change the way health care is organized and delivered" in his state. He spoke with Stateline recently to discuss his plans.

Stitching Medicare and Medicaid Together

Health care reform has cast a spotlight on the sickest and poorest patients in our nation's health care system: 8.8 million people who are enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare. These dually eligible people represent less than 15 percent of the Medicaid population, but they are responsible for nearly half of all costs. Efforts in Pennsylvania and other states show promise of improving their care and dramatically lowering costs.

It Takes A Team

This 2010 report was the first to examine the impact that hiring new types of dental providers—dental therapists and hygienists-therapists—could have on both the productivity and profits of a private dental practice, where more than 90 percent of the nation’s dentists work.

How Wisconsin Made Big Medicaid Cuts With Little Controversy

When lawmakers needed huge health care savings to balance the budget, they turned the decision-making over to a panel of stakeholders. The strategy could be a model for other states looking to squeeze money out of their Medicaid programs.

Washington's ABCD Program

This 2010 Pew Center on the States report looked at how dental care remains the greatest unmet need for health services among children.

Health Care Reform's X Factor

Nobody knows for sure how much expanding Medicaid will cost the states because it's impossible to say how many new people will sign up for the program. A new study says that new enrollments, and their associated costs, could run much higher than many states expected.

Rhode Island's Medicaid Gamble

A small state has launched a big experiment to cap Medicaid spending by keeping seniors at home and out of more costly nursing facilities. And the effort is getting high marks - so far.

Are There Enough Docs for the Newly Insured?

After Massachusetts started rolling out its 2006 law to ensure that nearly every one of its residents had health insurance, the sudden influx of newly insured patients created long waits to see primary care doctors. Now, physicians worry the entire country could see the same thing happen when the recently passed national health law takes full effect in 2014.

Hope for the Long Term

A casual observer of the health care debate might think the historic new federal law does little to help older Americans. In fact, emotional talk of "death panels" likely led more than a few people to expect bad news for end-of-life care. It's true that the new law promises to pay only a tiny share of states' biggest and fastest growing health care bill - long-term care for the elderly and other adults with disabilities. Still, its attention to the issue may end up paying much bigger dividends in the future.

Some States Like the Sweet Taste of Soda and Candy taxes

An ad by the New York City Health Department aims to link the consumption of sugary drinks with costly health problems. Are sugary sodas and candy the new tobacco and liquor - vices that states want to discourage to save on health care bills but also tax heavily to replenish empty coffers? Colorado recently lifted exemptions on soda and candy and expects to bring in $3.6 million. The governors of Massachusetts and Washington State both are eyeing candy and soda taxes. And, for the second year in a row, the governor in New York wants a higher tax on sugary drinks to help pay for the health problems associated with obesity. But critics say the taxes are discriminatory and bad tax policy.