Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Even Though Maine Voters OK'd Medicaid Expansion, Governor May Not Submit Application
The Associated Press: Medicaid Expansion Advocates To Rally As Deadline Nears
Maine health care providers, lawmakers and advocates are planning to rally to demand that Maine take action on voter-approved Medicaid expansion. The state faces a Tuesday deadline to submit a routine application to ensure roughly $500 million in annual federal funding for expansion. The tens of thousands of low-income individuals who could benefit from such expansion are still waiting for Gov. Paul LePage's administration and lawmakers to take action. (4/3)
In other Medicaid news —
The Clarion Ledger: Mississippi AG Asks To Expand Medicaid Abuse Investigative Resources
In December, a 24-year-old clinical assistance went to prison for having sex with a patient at a Hattiesburg health care facility. In October, a former direct care worker at a Pearl nursing home pleaded guilty to stealing several patients' debit cards and one patient's diamond ring. Two years ago, a Purvis man was convicted of sexual battery of a vulnerable person at a personal care home in Lamar County, where he worked as a maintenance worker. These cases were prosecuted by the Mississippi attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which receives 75 percent of its budget through federal funding and investigates cases of both improper Medicaid payments and abuse of patients in health care facilities. (Wolfe, 4/2)
Vox: Utah’s Quixotic Medicaid Expansion Plan, Explained
Utah wants to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Kind of. The state legislature has passed and Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a bill that would partially expand Medicaid through the ACA — up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level (about $20,000 for a family of three) instead of the 133 percent threshold prescribed in the health care law. The Utah plan would also institute a work requirement. (Scott, 4/2)
