Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Enrollment Begins For Healthy Pennsylvania -- The State's Effort At Medicaid Expansion
The Associated Press: Pennsylvania Launches Medicaid Expansion, Overhaul
Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents left out of coverage under the 2010 federal health care law now have a chance to get insurance as the state undertakes a massive overhaul to health care for the poor. On Dec. 1, enrollment begins in the Healthy Pennsylvania program, the name given to Pennsylvania's Medicaid expansion by outgoing Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Coverage will begin Jan. 1, and state officials say some 600,000 people — primarily low-income, single working adults — are newly eligible for coverage under guidelines set by the 2010 law. (Levy, 11/30)
Los Angeles Times: Unequal Treatment In Arizona, Swings In Medicaid Access Show Program's Impact
Bad timing turned Karen Slone's medical problem into a crisis. Slone, 53, a former administrative assistant with diabetes, followed doctors' advice for years, getting regular checkups. Then, last year, she lost her job and her insurance, and stopped going to the doctor. When she spotted a sore on her foot, a common complication of diabetes, Slone tried Neosporin and Band-Aids. By the time she went to an emergency room weeks later, she had a raging infection. Surgeons had to remove bones in two toes. (Levey, 11/30)
The New York Times: Wyoming Devises Plan To Expand Medicaid
With a plan released Wednesday by the administration of Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, Wyoming has become the latest state seeking to expand Medicaid. The plan would provide Medicaid coverage to an additional 18,000 low-income people, according to the state’s health department. If it wins federal and state legislative approval, Wyoming will join 27 states that have expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act, including nine with Republican leadership. As several other Republican governors have done, Mr. Mead wants to require some people who receive coverage under the expansion to pay something toward the cost. (Goodnough, 11/27)
