Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Examines State Budget Developments in Kansas, Tennessee
Summaries of developments related to state budget plans in Kansas and Tennessee appear below.
- Kansas: The Kansas program that oversees coverage for child Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries would receive $1.2 million to expand coverage under budget proposals approved by the state House and tentatively agreed to by the state Senate on Tuesday, Kansas Health Institute News reports (KHI News, 3/24). The $13.4 billion House plan includes about $13 million in spending that would allow the state to avoid creating waiting lists for the children's health care program, known as HealthWave, and other programs (Klepper, Kansas City Star, 3/24). The funding would allow HealthWave to expand eligibility to children in families with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level. The Kansas Health Policy Authority said about 4,500 additional children could be enrolled in the fiscal year that begins July 1, and that as many as 8,000 more could be enrolled by the end of FY 2011, which would cost the state $3.2 million. Kansas would pay 28% of HealthWave's costs this year with the federal government funding the remainder, and the state's share could be offset in FY 2010 and FY 2011 using money included in the federal economic stimulus package. State House and state Senate negotiators will meet this week to work out differences in the two chambers' plans (KHI News, 3/24).
- Tennessee: Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) last week proposed a $29.3 billion FY 2010 budget plan that would tax health maintenance organizations to fund TennCare, the Tennessean reports. TennCare provides Medicaid coverage to some state beneficiaries through HMOs. The tax -- which would be between 2% and 5.5%, the most allowable under law -- would raise about $139 million annually for TennCare. The proposed budget would decrease overall state spending by 1.5%, compared with the current fiscal year, the Tennessean reports. Spending on TennCare would increase only as much as funds from the federal stimulus package allow (Sisk, Tennessean, 3/24).
