Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Expansion Of Medicaid In Three States Struggles
AP: Gov. Evers Calls Special Session On Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday called a special session for the Legislature to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin, promising to use $850 million in federal money that would come to the state to pay for an array of economic development projects across the state. Turning down Medicaid expansion now will mean Republicans are also rejecting economic development projects in their own legislative districts, Evers said at a free health care clinic in Middleton before signing an executive order calling the special session. “It’s time, enough politics,” Evers said. (Bauer, 5/19)
Axios: Group Suspends Mississippi Medicaid Expansion Ballot Initiative
An organizing committee working to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in Mississippi called “Yes on 76" suspended its campaign Wednesday. The decision to drop efforts comes after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last Friday the state's entire ballot initiative process is “unworkable and inoperative” due to outdated language in the state's constitution. (Fernandez, 5/20)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Centene CEO Again Threatens To Leave Missouri, This Time Over Medicaid Expansion
Calling Missouri an “embarrassment,” the CEO of one of the largest companies in the region is again threatening to abandon the state for a new corporate headquarters in North Carolina. In comments to Health Payer Specialist, a health industry trade publication, Centene Corp. chief Michael Neidorff warned that Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s and the GOP-controlled state Legislature’s failure to approve funding for a voter-backed expansion of Medicaid has Neidorff again questioning whether he should move his company out of Missouri. (Erickson and Suntrup, 5/19)
KWKT: Texas To Submit Waiver Application To Extend Medicaid Services
he Texas Health and Human Services Commission plans to resubmit an 1115 waiver extension application to prolong Medicare and Medicaid services for 10 years, allowing it to run through 2030. Earlier this month, Texas sued the Biden administration after it rescinded a Medicaid waiver extension originally put in place by the Trump administration. Some have speculated the denial was an effort by the Biden administration to force Texas into more permanently expanding Medicaid coverage as the Affordable Care Act intended. (Ramkissoon and Glynn, 5/19)
Stat: Fewer State Medicaid Programs Are Restricting Access To Hepatitis C Drugs
Over the past few years, state Medicaid programs have done a better job of disclosing information about access to expensive hepatitis C medicines and fewer are restricting treatments to patients, according to a new analysis. For the first time, each state program has released treatment criteria. And since 2017, 32 states have either removed or eliminated restrictions based on a patient’s stage of liver disease, 21 have loosened rules that required patients to demonstrate they have not abused or drug or alcohol for a period of time before starting treatment, and 25 state scaled back prescribing restrictions for health care providers. (Silverman, 5/19)
Georgia Health News: Potential Seen For Big Financial Paybacks From Insurers To Medicaid
The state’s Medicaid agency is setting up plans for a health insurer bidding competition that will award a new multibillion-dollar medical contract. “We’ll be looking for the best bang for the buck,’’ Frank Berry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), said last week at an agency board meeting. The current Medicaid insurers are being paid a total of about $4 billion a year for delivering medical services to more than 1 million members. (Miller, 5/19)
