Advocates Ask Trump Administration To Ignore Maine Governor’s Resistance And Approve State’s Medicaid Expansion
Due to a court order, Gov. Paul LePage requested approval last month to expand Medicaid in Maine. But the governor also wrote a letter to the administration urging officials to reject his application. Meanwhile, support for a program that helps people with disabilities move out of nursing homes gains support. Medicaid news comes out of Iowa, as well.
The Hill:
Medicaid Supporters Urge Trump Officials To Approve Expansion In Maine
Supporters of Medicaid expansion in Maine are pressuring the Trump administration to approve the state’s application to expand the program under ObamaCare, despite the GOP governor’s opposition. Maine Equal Justice Partners, an advocacy group that is pushing for Medicaid expansion, wrote in a letter to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) dated Sept. 14 that the administration should approve the expansion, noting that Maine residents voted in favor of expansion in a ballot measure last year. (Sullivan, 9/19)
CQ HealthBeat:
Momentum Builds To Revive Community Care Funding
Efforts to fund a Medicaid program that helps older Americans and people with disabilities move out of nursing homes and back into their communities appear to be gaining traction – though paying for it remains a hurdle. A House measure (HR 5306) to reauthorize the program for one year gained a number of cosponsors recently. The program, known as Money Follows the Person, was one of five bipartisan health care bills the Energy and Commerce Committee advanced last week. (Williams, 9/19)
Des Moines Register:
Iowa Medicaid Cost Increases Nearly Triple Under Managed Care
The average cost of insuring an Iowan on Medicaid has climbed nearly three times as fast since the state hired private companies to manage the program, when compared to the previous six years, new state figures show. Since fiscal 2017, the first full year of privatization, the per-member cost of Iowa's Medicaid program has risen an average of 4.4 percent per year, according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency. In the previous six years, the per-member cost rose an average of 1.5 percent per year, the agency said. (Leys, 9/19)
The Associated Press:
Records: Medicaid Vendors Also Contributed To Iowa Democrats
The head of the Iowa Democratic Party has criticized Gov. Kim Reynolds for taking campaign contributions from a company that provides Medicaid services under the state's privatized health care system, but records show two Democratic leaders in the Legislature also accepted money from such companies. (9/19)
