800 Disabled Children In Texas Likely To Lose Therapy Services As Medicaid Cuts Begin
State lawmakers cut $350 million from the Medicaid budget for children’s therapy services, and state officials are having trouble finding care providers who will accept the lower reimbursement rates. News outlets also report on Medicaid developments in Kansas, Louisiana and Arizona.
Texas Tribune:
East Texas Children Lose Therapy Services In Budget Cut Fallout
Nearly 300 East Texas children with disabilities who are part of the state's Early Childhood Intervention program have no one to provide them with medically necessary therapies after the region’s lone provider closed its doors this week in response to hefty budget cuts ordered by state lawmakers. And another 500 children in North Texas are likely to lose their therapy provider at the end of October, also a result of the budget cuts ordered by the legislature in 2015. The Tyler-based nonprofit Andrews Center told state officials months ago that lower reimbursement rates would force it to stop offering services for infants and toddlers — including speech, physical and occupational therapies and coaching families on caring for high-needs children. (Walters, 10/4)
Kansas Health Institute:
Kansas Mental Health Providers: Funding Cuts, Stalled Contracts Add To Pressures
Kansas mental health providers continue to sound the alarm on how Medicaid rate cuts and contract disputes are affecting care. At a recent meeting of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, members were encouraged to lobby incumbent legislators and election challengers about the need to adopt a state budget that restores the Medicaid cuts ordered by Gov. Sam Brownback to balance the state budget and the approximately $20 million in grant funding that has been cut since 2007. (McLean, 10/3)
Kansas Health Institute:
State’s Asset Verification Process Key Issue In Medicaid Backlog Lawsuit
A nursing home chain’s lawsuit over the Kansas Medicaid application backlog hinges on whether state officials are doing enough to electronically verify applicants’ assets. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that operates 32 long-term care facilities in Kansas, filed the suit last week in federal court. The suit was filed on behalf of 21 nursing home residents waiting on eligibility determinations for Medicaid, which in Kansas is a managed care program known as KanCare. (Marso, 10/3)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
John Bel Edwards, Jeff Landry Come To Compromise On Abortion Lawsuits, Medicaid Fraud Funding
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry are headed to court over LGBT workplace protections, but two of Louisiana's top elected officials are trying to put a positive spin on their working relationship. Edwards and Landry announced Friday (Sept. 30) that they had resolved a couple of other high-profile disputes over how to deal with abortion lawsuits and efforts to root out Medicaid fraud. Edwards has agreed that Landry's office needs more money to defend Louisiana's abortion restrictions, which are being challenged as unconstitutional in court. The governor also said he would provide Landry with more resources to combat problems in the Medicaid program, which Edwards expanded to hundreds of thousands of new people. (O'Donoghue, 10/3)
Modern Healthcare:
CMS Denies Arizona's Request To Limit Medicaid To Five Years
The CMS has approved the least conservative aspects of Arizona's request to tweak Medicaid in ways that would make consumers more financially responsible for their coverage. Patient advocacy groups fought hard against the most stringent proposed requirement, one that would lock consumers out of Medicaid coverage after five years if they were considered "able-bodied." (Dickson, 10/3)
