Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Midst Of Enthusiasm Over Revamping Medicaid, CMS Draws The Line At Lifetime Limits
The Hill: Trump Administration Won't Approve Lifetime Limits On Medicaid
The Trump administration will not approve state requests to impose lifetime limits on Medicaid coverage, breaking with conservatives who have pushed for the strict limitation. “We’ve indicated we would not approve lifetime limits, and we’ve made that pretty clear to states,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said Tuesday. Speaking at a Washington Post event on health care, Verma did not give details about other decisions facing the administration, such as whether to allow work requirements in states that have not expanded Medicaid under ObamaCare, and whether to allow drug testing for Medicaid enrollees, as Wisconsin is proposing. When asked about drug testing, Verma said only that the administration wants to evaluate state goals on an individual basis. (Weixel, 5/15)
The Washington Post: One-On-One With Seema Verma, Administrator Of The U.S. Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services
The Washington Post’s Paige Winfield Cunningham speaks one-on-one with U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, who outlines her vision for Medicaid. (5/15)
The Washington Post: Virginia State Sen. Richard Saslaw Is Threatening To Exercise 'The Nuclear Option' To Nudge The Legislature To Expand Medicaid
Sen. Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw said he will resort to a “nuclear” procedural move — one that would wrest the state budget bill from the Senate Finance Committee — if the panel does not send a spending plan to the full Senate before it reconvenes next week. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said he will make a motion to “discharge” the committee, which he says has been dragging its feet on the budget since a second Republican senator declared his willingness to approve Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. (Vozzella, 5/15)
Nashville Tennessean: In Governor’s Race, Medicaid Debate Holds Firm On Party Lines
Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates vowed Tuesday to immediately expand Medicaid if elected governor, saying expansion was the key to filling Tennessee’s health care gap and saving rural hospitals throughout the state. But the proposal was met with swift opposition from three Republican opponents, who insisted expansion was unaffordable and that the state’s next governor should instead negotiate block grants — which come with less funding but fewer strings — from the Trump Administration. (Kelman, 5/15)
KCUR: Governor Colyer Signs Kansas Budget, Minus Handcuffing Of Medicaid Overhaul
Gov. Jeff Colyer signed the Kansas budget into law Tuesday, but in the process he knocked out a provision aimed at curbing his administration’s revamp of the state’s privatized Medicaid program, KanCare. Colyer and his predecessor, former-Gov. Sam Brownback, have been working to overhaul KanCare and get federal permission to extend the program for several more years. Kansas lawmakers wanted to block Colyer from adding restrictions, like work requirements for some KanCare recipients. The budget provision Colyer vetoed would have unfunded the Medicaid program if the governor made changes to it, a move the administration said would imperil the state health agency. (Koranda, 5/15)
Politico Pro: California's Quest To Cover Undocumented Hinges On Cost Concerns
California lawmakers are poised to offer Medicaid coverage to all poor people in the state — including undocumented immigrants. But the bid could be threatened by forecasts showing it could cost as much as $3 billion a year. Legislators trying to build on coverage gains made under Obamacare are targeting the nearly 3 million remaining uninsured in the state, an estimated 60 percent of whom lack legal status. (Colliver, 5/15)
Miami Herald: State Issues Moratorium On New Autism Therapists In South Florida
Florida healthcare regulators are imposing a six-month moratorium on enrollment of new therapists who provide a costly but effective psychological treatment for poor children with autism in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, citing a statewide investigation that identified fraud and abuse, including "extraordinary overbilling," of the Medicaid program. (Chang, 5/15)
