Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Colorado Sued For Restricting Medicaid Access To Hepatitis C Drugs
Stat: Colorado Is Latest State To Be Sued For Restricting Access To Hepatitis C Drugs
You can add Colorado to the list of states being sued for refusing to widen access to the hepatitis C medications in its state Medicaid program. The lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, was filed on behalf of two Colorado citizens on Monday in response to a longstanding policy by the state Medicaid program to restrict coverage only to people with the most advanced stages of liver disease, such as cirrhosis. The state “illegally restricts” access to medically necessary treatment “that can be provided only by” the available hepatitis C drugs, the lawsuit states. (Silverman, 9/22)
AL.com: Alabama Medicaid Agency Restores Payment Rates For Doctors
Gov. Robert Bentley announced today that the Alabama Medicaid Agency would restore payments to doctors to levels they were before cuts were made effective Aug. 1. The payments were reduced because of an $85 million shortfall in Medicaid's budget for the year that starts Oct. 1. The reduced payments to doctors were expected to save about $14.7 million .... But two weeks ago, the Legislature passed a bill to close the 2017 budget gap and provide additional funding for Medicaid in 2018. (Cason, 9/22)
Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: Alabama Medicaid Restores Physicians' Funding
Gov. Robert Bentley and Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar Thursday announced that the agency would restore a primary care bump for doctors, cut in August amid a shortfall in state funding for the program. The restoration will begin Oct. 1. “Our primary care physicians are the ones most affected by Medicaid,” Bentley said at a press conference Thursday. “Almost all our primary care docs take Medicaid. A large percentage of people they see, especially children, a large percentage of those take Medicaid.” (Lyman, 9/22)
Arkansas Times Record: Official: More Than 317,000 Arkansans Eligible For Expanded Medicaid
The number of people who have been deemed eligible for Arkansas’ expanded Medicaid program has reached 317,289, state Department of Human Services Director Cindy Gillespie said Thursday. In a letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Gillespie said that at the end of August, 265,608 Arkansans were enrolled in private health insurance plans under the program known as the private option, 23,043 who applied for the program were enrolled in traditional Medicaid because they were deemed medically frail, and 28,638 people who had been deemed eligible for the program were in the process of enrolling. (Lyon, 9/23)
