Monday, August 08, 2005
Congress to Consider Major Medicaid Changes in September, Grassroots Advocacy Campaign Needed During Congressional Recess Action Alert at the NAMI web site - " This week the House and Senate began a month long summer recess, during which members of Congress will be in their states and districts across the country. One of the major issues Congress will confront upon their return to work in September is how to reduce future Medicaid expenditures by $10 billion over the next five years. These reductions to Medicaid will be considered as a part of a massive budget 'reconciliation' measure that Congress is supposed to complete sometime in the fall. This "reconciliation" legislation will include a number of programmatic changes to Medicaid that could have an enormous impact on beneficiaries (both children and adults) living with mental illness. NAMI is very concerned that these reductions to Medicaid do not adversely impact on access to treatment support services for Medicaid beneficiaries living with mental illness."
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Court clarifies TennCare questions (Tennessee) Story in
The Tennessean - "Issuing a new order outlining what the state can and cannot do to limit TennCare benefits, a federal judge said officials now have all the information they need to decide whether about 97,000 sick people can stay in the program. State officials said last night they were encouraged by U.S. District Judge John Nixon's ruling, but remained noncommittal."
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Leavitt Praises Governors on Medicaid AP story in the
Las Vegas Sun - "The nation's governors likely will play an influential role in federal efforts to slow the growth of Medicaid, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. Leavitt has appointed a commission that will recommend to Congress short- and long-term changes to the program, which serves about 52 million Americans. The commission's first report is due Sept. 1. It will focus on ways to slow the health insurance program's growth by $10 billion over the next five years. The commission just had its first meeting last week, raising the question of how extensive a review it can accomplish. Leavitt said in an interview Tuesday with Associated Press reporters and editors that governors have had some of the answers for a long time. .."
Monday, August 01, 2005
Dual Eligibles: Medicaids Role for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Fact sheet (in PDF format) from the Kaiser Family Foundation - "This fact sheet describes the over 7.5 million 'dual eligibles,' the low-income elderly and persons with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, why this population needs Medicaid, what services they receive from Medicaid, and the current policy challenges related to dual eligibles, including the new Medicare prescription drug benefit."
Premiums for the Poor Washington Post editorial - "The notion of asking Medicaid recipients to pay more toward their health care has a lot of intuitive appeal. Rapidly growing costs for the health care program for the poor are straining state budgets across the country, as well as the federal government's. In private insurance programs, co-payments, deductibles and other cost-sharing mechanisms have helped make patients more informed and cost-conscious consumers. It's not surprising, then, that the nation's governors are pressing for more flexibility to require Medicaid recipients to pay more for their care as well. But the evidence from states that have adopted such cost-cutting measures suggests that any changes should be made only with extreme caution. Those considering changes in the program must make certain that the payments -- even if they don't appear burdensome -- don't prevent recipients from getting needed services and don't backfire by resulting in more expensive emergency room and hospital care."
Ruling leaves fate of sickest TennCare enrollees uncertain (Tennessee) Story in
The Tennessean - "A federal judge's ruling yesterday afternoon leaves unclear what will happen to about 97,000 of the sickest TennCare enrollees who are due to lose access to state-paid prescription-drug coverage come Monday. Saying he was ruling as quickly as possible before those changes are to take effect, U.S. District Judge John Nixon gave the go-ahead to part of the state's plans to enact cost-saving drug-management tools. State officials have said those tools are key to overhauling TennCare and sparing 97,000 people from cuts. However, Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said last night that he was unsure whether yesterday's partial ruling will help avert the changes to come for the "medically needy" a special category of TennCare enrollees whom Gov. Phil Bredesen has said are the sickest people on the program."
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Medicare and Medicaid at 40 Page indexing a number of resources at the Kaiser Family Foundation site - "The Medicare and Medicaid health coverage programs were signed into law July 30, 1965. The Kaiser Family Foundation has some new resources that examine how Medicare and Medicaid came into existence and how they have evolved over the past 40 years. You will find new documentaries and extended interviews with key policymakers and government officials examining the origins of Medicare and Medicaid, new interactive historical timelines, a chart pack of key information and statistics, a webcast of a retrospective of the two programs with historian Robert Dallek and key government officials responsible for the programs over the past 40 years, and many other background resources on the two programs."
Governors Urge Focus on Medicaid Washington Post story - "As Congress and President Bush have sparred over Social Security and the federal judiciary this year, the top legislative priority of the nation's governors has not changed. Republican and Democratic state executives say nothing is more important to the states than restructuring Medicaid, and they worry that the federal government has not gotten the message. Medicaid was not part of the official agenda at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Des Moines earlier this month, but it was a regular topic of discussion at the governors-only sessions..."
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Developments in State Medicaid Programs Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report coverage of recent Medicaid-related developments in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina and Utah, with links to related news stories and agency resources.
Money to plug Medicaid holes is funding mental health (Utah) Deseret News story - "Money intended to plug, at least partially, a $6 million hole left by recent federal cuts to the Medicaid program is already being used for mental health treatment for indigent Utahns who don't qualify for the government insurance program. The new director of the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health told lawmakers, who appropriated the one-time, $2 million award earlier this year, that the funds have been distributed based on the needs of specific mental health centers across the state." See also
Mental health funds cut; patients increase (
Salt Lake Tribune).
