Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As House Eyes Revamping Medicaid, Some Republicans In Senate Are Cautious
Politico Pro: House Ready For Medicaid Overhaul — Senate, Maybe Not Yet
House Republicans are itching to cap Medicaid spending and do it fast. Their Senate counterparts? Not so clear. GOP lawmakers in the lower chamber say they are ready next year to make good on their party’s longstanding calls to put Medicaid on a budget, either by giving states lump sum block grants or per person capped payments. (Pradhan, 12/15)
Morning Consult: Medicaid Advisory Board Recommends Extending CHIP Funding Five Years
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission is recommending that Congress provide five additional years of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program next year. The nonpartisan body, which advises Congress on issues affecting Medicaid and CHIP, is urging lawmakers to extend funding for the program through 2022. The CHIP program provides health insurance for children in families whose incomes don’t qualify for Medicaid. Extending funding for the program is considered “must-pass legislation” next year by most on Capitol Hill. (McIntire, 12/15)
The Hill: Deep-Red Arkansas's Medicaid Expansion At Risk Under ObamaCare Attack
Deep red Arkansas’s Medicaid expansion has been a successful model for Republican-led states to follow, but with ObamaCare on the chopping block, its future is unclear. While millions of people in the 31 states and the District of Columbia that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are at risk of losing coverage if the healthcare law is repealed, Arkansas, and to a lesser extent New Hampshire, face a unique situation. Both states expanded Medicaid under the so-called private option model -- using Medicaid funding to pay for private health insurance offered through the law's insurance exchanges. (Weixel, 12/15)
Arkansas Online: Arkansas Task Force OK'd To Put Brakes On Medicaid
During its final meeting Thursday, which lasted just over 20 minutes, a legislative task force unanimously approved a report recommending steps the state should take to slow the growth of spending in the state's Medicaid program. ... The report also recommends that the state take additional steps to coordinate the Medicaid benefits provided to the developmentally disabled and mentally ill, but doesn't offer an opinion on whether those benefits should be provided through managed care. (Davis, 12/16)
KUAR (Little Rock, Ark.): Plan For Medicaid Reform Approved By Legislative Task Force
A group of Arkansas lawmakers who had been meeting for more than a year to find ways to revamp healthcare in the state, signed off Thursday on a plan to reduce Medicaid spending by an estimated $963 million over five years. The Health Reform Legislative Task Force developed the plan out of recommendations from the Stephen Group, an independent consultant hired last year. (Hickey, 12/15)
(Fort Smith, Ark.) Times-Record: Legislative Panel Adopts Recommendations To Reform Arkansas Health Care
Among the changes recommended in the report are caps on therapy for the developmentally disabled; reforms aimed at reducing the number of people being treated in psychiatric hospitals; reforms aimed at reducing pharmacy costs; and the use of managed-care companies to provide dental benefits. The report estimates that the state could save $1.3 billion over five years if it allowed managed-care companies to provide services to the developmentally disabled and the mentally ill. The report stops short of making a recommendation on the issue, which has divided legislators. (Lyon, 12/16)
And in other Medicaid news --
Texas Tribune: U.S. Officials Warn Of Further Disability Provider Closures In Texas
Up to one-quarter of the nonprofit providers who offer speech, physical and occupational therapy to the state's neediest children may drop out of the program as they face budget cuts passed by Texas lawmakers in 2015, a federal agency has warned. As state lawmakers pursue a $350 million cut to the Medicaid budget for children’s therapy services, Texas Health and Human Services Commission officials are scrambling to maintain a robust network of providers to ensure children have access to the medically necessary services. (Walters and Evans, 12/15)
Maine Public: Medicaid Expansion Supporters Say They Have The Signatures To Force A Vote
Supporters of expanding Medicaid in Maine say they’ve collected enough signatures to put the issue before the Legislature, or the voters. The citizen initiative has the potential to extend health insurance coverage to 70,000 Mainers. But with the future of the Affordable Care Act uncertain under a Donald Trump presidency, it’s unclear how and if Medicaid expansion could work, even if it is approved here in Maine. (Wight, 12/15)
Kansas Health Institute: Settling Medicaid Fraud Allegations Not Necessarily A Bar To Participating In KanCare
Kansas is continuing to do business with a home health care agency that recently agreed to settle a federal kickback case for $1.8 million. State officials say that because the agency, Best Choice Home Health Care Agency Inc. in Kansas City, Kansas, did not admit liability as part of its settlement with the government, the state’s hands are tied. Angela deRocha, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said in an email that Best Choice was not excluded from participating in Medicaid by federal officials and therefore Kansas “is unable to take termination action” either. (Margolies, 12/15)
