Monday, May 02, 2005

House halves governor's proposed Medicaid cuts (Vermont) Rutland Herald story - "A key House committee halved many of the cuts that the governor wanted to make in the Medicaid public health insurance program Friday as it moved closer to adopting recommendations for resolving a pending $80 million deficit. The Appropriations Committee relied on the hope for improving state tax revenue, a number of accounting maneuvers and the potential that a still-pending deal with the federal government would shore up Washington's falling commitment on Medicaid. 'We have proposed no new taxes,' said Rep. Mark Larson, D-Burlington, who helped craft the compromise proposal. 'We also have proposed no cuts in eligibility or services.' But neither have provided the long-term solution to the runaway costs of Medicaid, which left unchanged could lead to a cumulative deficit of $545 million by 2010."  
  

Committees agree to expand mental health funding (Nevada) Nevada Appeal story - "Members of legislative money committees Friday agreed to increase the budgets for Mental Health and Developmental Services by nearly 40 percent - most of it already in Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed budget. The program would add more than $133 million in general fund money and $144.8 million total to the existing two-year budget, dramatically improving services in a long list of programs Guinn said have fallen desperately behind over the years. Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said the increases go a long way to fix damage caused to division programs in 1991 when a recession forced the state to chop back agency budgets. A disproportionate share of those cuts were made in mental health programs and advocates have complained for a decade that little has been done to restore the programs since."  
  

State Medicaid Developments: Florida, Kentucky, Nevada Roundup at the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report on Medicaid-related developments in these three states, with links to related news stories and other resources.  
  

National Eating Disorders Association Urges Congress and State Legislatures to Provide Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders MarketWire story reprinted at PsycPORT - "In light of the Terri Schiavo case, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) urges Congress and state legislatures to move forward on approving legislation that requires insurance policies to cover the treatment of eating disorders. While members of Congress scrambled this past week to intervene in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo, millions have asked why Congress and state legislatures have ignored individuals with eating disorders, long before their health is as seriously compromised as Schiavo's. It has been reported that the potassium deficiency which triggered Schiavo's cardiac arrest and resulted in her present state was the result of an eating disorder."