June 25, 2019-LAWMAKERS SEEK HIGHER PAY FOR PERSONAL CARE, FULL FUNDING IN DOUBT

No one argues that personal-care workers don’t rate a pay hike, but giving them a boost will add $131 million to the state’s Medicaid expenses over next 12 months New Jersey lawmakers want to boost Medicaid payments for certain home-based healthcare services traditionally plagued by low wages and high turnover, but where the state will find the money remains somewhat of a mystery. The

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June 20, 2019-Fake autism treatments show the lengths parents will go to “cure” their kids

Like many autistic people, I don’t handle background noise well. My senses and brain can’t separate it from any other sounds. It’s often just as loud as, if not louder than, what I’m trying to listen to. And the effort it takes to try to handle that issue while focusing often leaves me frustrated and drained. Read more


June 20, 2019-Major study suggests Medicaid work requirements are hurting people without really helping anybody

The first major study on the nation’s first Medicaid work requirements finds that people fell off of the Medicaid rolls but didn’t seem to find more work.  Since Arkansas implemented the nation’s first Medicaid work requirements last year, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found, Medicaid enrollment has fallen for working-age adults, the uninsured rate has been rising,

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June 18, 2019-LAWSUIT OVER GREYSTONE SAFETY, TREATMENT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT REFORMS

Current and former patients, supported by staff, allege hospital administrators and state health officials have allowed dangerous conditions to continue at psychiatric hospital State officials have just over a week to file a legal response to court claims that patients at New Jersey’s Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital are at risk of imminent death or injury; and the officials have roughly a month before they

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June 18, 2019-SWEEPING CHANGES TO NJ’S RULES ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROPOSED

Housing advocates cheer controversial bill as builders decry proposed new requirements for high-density developments and question constitutionality New Jersey would impose, for the first time, a requirement that a quarter of units in many proposed high-density developments be affordable to residents of low- to middle-income under a bill that cleared its first legislative hurdle on Monday. The measure is aimed at trying to ensure

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June 17, 2019-The Department of Health and Human Services Proposes Rule to Weaken the Nondiscrimination Protections of the Affordable Care Act

The Arc continues to work to protect the significant achievements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the nondiscrimination provisions in Section 1557. We are disappointed to see the proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which radically narrows application of the nondiscrimination protections and limits the remedies for people who are impacted. Sec. 1557 of the

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June 17, 2019-Man killed in Corona Costco shooting was a ‘gentle giant,’ cousin says

A 32-year-old man shot dead by an off-duty Los Angeles police officer inside a Corona Costco was mentally disabled and described Sunday by a cousin a  “gentle giant,” while the man’s parents were the two people critically wounded by the same officer, the cousin said. Kenneth French, 32, died Friday night at the discount store. Corona police said Saturday their investigation showed French had

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June 17, 2019-MENENDEZ, OTHERS TRY TO STOP SURPRISE OUT-OF-NETWORK MEDICAL BILLS

Advocates say loopholes in New Jersey law would be closed if bipartisan federal measure succeeds Bridget Devane, the public policy director for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees labor union, stood behind Sen. Bob Menendez in support of his federal legislation, the Stop Surprise Medical Bills Act. She said the bill would close loopholes in the law on out-of-network medical bills that Gov. Phil

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June 12, 2019-The Democrats who are still undecided on Medicare-for-all, explained

The most important audience for the House’s latest Medicare-for-all hearing are undecided lawmakers and voters House Democrats are holding their second-ever hearing on Medicare-for-all, as the party tries to sort out what its next big step on health care should be. The Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday differs from April’s historic hearing on Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All Act, which would

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June 11, 2019-HEALTHCARE IMPROVES IN NJ, BUT SPENDING REMAINS A CONCERN

Garden State turns in strong showing for low mortality rates for suicide and alcohol, but growing opioid epidemic continues to pull down state’s rankings New Jersey’s healthcare system now ranks 20th nationwide, an improvement over the past year. But it continues to face challenges when it comes to the cost of care — a factor that may have driven down access for adults in

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