Tomorrow’s Health: Limiting opioids, home-based care & improving Medicaid outcomes

(WWNY) - Infant mortality may be higher for families on Medicaid, and some places have little access to home health services.

Limiting opioids

An insurance company in Michigan put a five-day limit on opioids for some patients after common surgeries like appendectomies and hysterectomies.

Research shows it did not increase their pain or harm their recovery.

Experts say more data is needed before a limit can be applied to surgeries like joint replacements or spine surgery, which can be far more painful.

Lack of home-based care

Home health services can be crucial for the elderly, but a new study finds that access is hard to come by in many locations.

The findings show that one-quarter of U.S. counties have low availability of home-based care clinicians who serve Medicare recipients.

Improving Medicaid outcomes

Researchers in Alabama looked at data on more than 13 million infants across the country and found a higher risk of infant mortality among babies who were born to mothers on Medicaid insurance.

Infants of mothers with private insurance had significantly lower risk of mortality, low birth rate, and pre-term birth.

Researchers say it underscores the need to improve care access to women and infants on Medicaid.

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