Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Consumer Advocates Press Ark. Governor To Reinstate People Who Lost Medicaid Coverage
Arkansas Online: Governor Petitioned To Reinsure 53,000
A coalition of advocacy groups on Wednesday called for Gov. Asa Hutchinson to restore Medicaid coverage for more than 53,000 Arkansans who failed to provide proof of their incomes within a 10-day deadline. The Arkansas Citizens First Congress, a coalition of 54 advocacy groups and charitable organizations, delivered a petition to Hutchinson with 2,300 signatures asking him to restore coverage to those whose insurance was canceled for failing to meet the deadline. (Davis, 9/3)
Arkansas News: Groups Call On Hutchinson To Reinstate People Kicked Off Medicaid, Private Option
On Aug. 3, two days before he was scheduled to undergo surgery in Cleveland for a heart condition, Randy Dollar of Jacksonville was told by a pharmacist that his health-care coverage had been cancelled. “I almost walked out the door and came home to die,” he said. Dollar is among 59,000 Arkansans whose coverage under Medicaid programs has been terminated during a controversial re-verification process that was the subject of a rally at the state Capitol on Wednesday. ... Groups holding Wednesday’s rally said that despite some recent improvements, the Medicaid re-verification process remains deeply flawed. (Lyon, 9/2)
The Associated Press: Wolf Administration Wraps Up Overhaul Of Medicaid Benefits
The Wolf administration said Tuesday that it had completed the transfer of more than 1 million adult Medicaid enrollees into a single, new benefits package it had created as the program expands to record numbers under the 2010 federal health care law. The process that the Human Services Department finished included the dismantling of changes that Gov. Tom Wolf’s predecessor had sought to make to Medicaid coverage as part of Pennsylvania’s embrace of the Medicaid expansion. (Levy, 9/2)
The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Woman Takes Part-Time Job, Loses Insurance Coverage In The Process
Gov. John Kasich's administration, which has expanded Medicaid coverage, has also encouraged people to pursue jobs and get off the government rolls. In that sense, [Gwendolyn] Harris is a success story -- until you consider what happened next. (Ross, 9/3)
