Tuesday, December 14, 2004

State feels squeeze on Medicaid (Wisconsin)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story - "With little more than a month left to prepare Wisconsin's next two-year budget, Gov. Jim Doyle and top state officials are facing tough choices on how to fix the $800 million funding shortfall in the state's Medicaid program. They're doing what they can to avoid the more common choices of states weathering funding crises: reduce the number of people who qualify, eliminate some of the services covered or lower the amount paid to those who provide care to Medicaid recipients. ... Medicaid, the health care safety net for more than one in seven Wisconsin residents - most of them low-income people who are elderly, disabled or children - is one of the biggest chunks of the state budget, with the program spending $4.2 billion this year."  
  

Modest 2005 Funding Increases for Most Addiction Programs
Brief article at Join Together - "The FY2005 labor, education, and health and human services budget passed by Congress last month has mostly good news for alcohol and other drug-related programs: significant dollar increases for most programs tempered only somewhat by a .83-percent across-the-board reduction ordered by lawmakers... "  
  

Senator pleased with area mental health care (Nebraska)
Columbus Telegram story - "After spending the day meeting with health professionals and touring Columbus Community Hospital and the Family Resource Center, State Sen. Jim Jensen said he is impressed with how the area is moving forward in providing community-based mental health care. Jensen, chairman of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, was joined by State Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center as they toured the area Monday to discuss the Behavioral Health Reform Act, which was passed during the 2004 session..."