Which state will be the next to expand Medicaid?

The last week has yielded significant progress in several states currently debating Medicaid expansion. Thirty-one states and DC have already expanded the program, made an option for states due to the Supreme Court’s NFIB v Sebelius decision. Many state legislatures are coming back into session from summer recesses bringing into focus discussions on the budget implications of Medicaid. Additionally, as we approach a looming Presidential election with expected high voter turnout, politicians have an opportunity to push for the expansion to gain support from certain stakeholders. While significant action is needed in each of these states before any Medicaid expansion legislation is passed or their governors act to implement their plans, it is worth keeping an eye on all of these states in the coming months.

Utah- It has been over a year and a half since Governor Herbert announced his support for Medicaid expansion. This week, details of the new plan, UtahAccess+, have been released. The plan, formulated by the Governor and Republican legislative leaders, is similar to the Healthy Utah plan that was passed the Utah Senate but was struck down in the House with the exception of the financing model which puts the burden on providers that would benefit from additional funds through expansion.

Louisiana- This is one of the more surprising states to appear on a list of upcoming states to expand Medicaid, however the tides may be shifting in this largely conservative state. Louisiana is in the process of electing a new governor as Presidential candidate Bobby Jindal is ineligible due to term limits. All four candidates have indicated some level of support for expansion (to varying degrees) since April. These candidates’ positions reflect the push by business groups in the state which have called for expansion, as well as the recent legislative change that gave the new governor the necessary state authority to expand in the first months in office.

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Managing Diabetes: Is Silicon Valley the Solution?

By Emma Sandoe

According to a new study in JAMA, half of American adults either have diabetes or are pre-diabetic. The chronic condition costs the nation $245 billion annually in health care costs and lost wages. The diabetes technology industry has grown exponentially over the last several years, as the use of measuring and regulating devices has become the norm for monitoring and treating diabetes.

Last week, NPR examined how Google’s Life Sciences division is investing in the management of diabetes. Google’s Life Sciences division is part of its renamed company, Alphabet, and stems out of Google X — the same side of the company working on technology such as driverless cars and tracking the spread of disease outbreaks.

One of Google’s most anticipated products coming out of the new diabetes campaign is a contact lens that would be able to monitor glucose levels from water in the eye. This joint venture with Novartis was announced in January 2014 and is currently slated for research and developmental reviews.

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Introducing the 2015-2016 Petrie-Flom Student Fellows

The Petrie-Flom Center is pleased to welcome our new 2015-2016 Student Fellows. In the coming year, each fellow will pursue independent scholarly projects related to health law policy, biotechnology, and bioethics under the mentorship of Center faculty and fellows. They will also be regular contributors here at Bill of Health on issues related to their research. Read More