State tax revenues have declined steeply in recent months, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. These decreases could prompt cuts in programs such as Medicaid, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Medicaid is underfunding state long-term care efforts by $4.2 billion this year, according to a new analysis of Medicaid financing released Wednesday by the American Health Care Association.

Hospitals that serve large groups of the elderly, poor, African-American or female patients tend to be ranked lower than hospitals with healthier, younger clientele under the Medicare pay-for-performance program, according to new research from the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Sen. Barack Obama (D) recently accused his rival in the presidential race of planning to slice $882 billion from Medicare to fund his healthcare plan. It is a charge Sen. John McCain's (R) camp refutes.

Government spending on Medicaid is expected to reach $674 billion by 2017, with annual spending projected to outpace U.S. economic growth, according to a report released Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Healthcare advocacy groups, including the American Health Care Association, have been urging Congress to include additional funds for Medicaid in a second possible stimulus package.

A Florida pilot program designed to give Medicare beneficiaries more choice and control concerning their healthcare plans has led to more confusion than anything else, according to a recent review by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Medicare Part D insurance plan may be wasting billions of dollars on intravenous drug treatments. Because it does not cover many of the drug-related costs of home-care treatment, patients have to go to the hospital, where Medicare ends up spending a lot more, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.

The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging's long-term care financing plan has gained traction with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as consumer groups, said Larry Minnix, president and CEO of the association.

Medicaid paid nursing home operators an average of $13.72 less than allowable costs per resident day in 2006. That is a shortfall of $4.6 billion overall, according to preliminary results of an annual study released Monday at the American Health Care Association's annual conference in Nashville.