Arizona, Wisconsin Begin Looking At Impact Of Trimming Medicaid Rolls
As covid upended the U.S. economy two years ago, Medicaid enrollment grew but the federal government helped states absorb the additional costs. Now as states look toward the end of the covid emergency, they are planning how to reevaluate who should be covered by the federal-state program for low-income residents.
AP:
Arizona To Resume Disenrolling People From Medicaid Program
Arizona will soon resume disenrolling state residents no longer eligible for coverage through Medicaid and a related program for children and that many people currently enrolled will need to go through a process to see if they remain eligible, officials said Tuesday. The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System generally hasn’t disenrolled beneficiaries since the pandemic began in March 2020 unless they moved out of state, voluntarily disenrolled, aged out of the children’s program or died, an agency statement said. (3/15)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
'Huge Number' In Wisconsin To Lose Medicaid As COVID Emergency Ends
Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are expected to lose eligibility for Medicaid coverage when the federal government lifts its public health emergency declaration, the state's top health official said Tuesday. At an event hosted by Wisconsin Health News, the state health department's Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake said that conservatively, the department is projecting a "few hundred thousand" people will lose their Medicaid coverage when the state restarts the renewal process for the 1.5 million Wisconsinites currently enrolled in the program. "It is a huge number," she said. (Shastri, 3/15)
In related Medicaid news —
AP:
House Speaker Not Budging On Medicaid Extension For New Moms
Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn says he opposes efforts to revive a proposal that would let mothers keep Medicaid coverage for a year after giving birth. “My position on the postpartum thing has not changed,” Gunn, a Republican, told reporters Tuesday at the Capitol. Mississippi allows two months of Medicaid coverage for women after they give birth. Advocates for low-income women say expanding the government insurance coverage up to a year could improve health outcomes in a state with a high rate of maternal mortality. (Pettus, 3/15)
AP:
Ex-Ohio Gov. Kasich Urges Compassion In Medicaid Pitch To NC
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other speakers on Tuesday shared the experiences of states expanding Medicaid to more working adults, as North Carolina legislators carefully weigh whether they should now accept the coverage. Kasich, a former Republican presidential candidate, and presenters on programs in Montana, Indiana and Michigan told a General Assembly study committee about successes and challenges after the states accepted expansion through the 2010 federal health care law. (Robertson, 3/16)
Miami Herald:
5 Health Care Bills Killed In 2022 By The Florida Legislature
Florida lawmakers changed healthcare policies in ways big and small this legislative session: They passed a 15-week abortion ban. They set aside $5 million per year so Florida children can afford hearing aids. They overhauled the process for securing state contracts in 2025 for Florida’s Medicaid managed care system. Based on current enrollment, those contracts will be worth at least $100 billion in total. Millions of Floridians covered by Medicaid will be affected by the Legislature’s policy changes. This year alone, lawmakers budgeted nearly $49 billion in taxpayer funding for healthcare-related spending. (Wilson, 3/15)
And in news from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services --
AP:
Psychiatric Hospital Gets More Time To Correct Deficiencies
Montana’s state psychiatric hospital has more time to correct deficiencies that have resulted in patient deaths, the Montana State News Bureau reports. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initially gave the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs until March 13 to meet certain conditions to remain eligible to receive federal reimbursement. (3/15)
