Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Managed Care Firms Want More Money Because Medicaid Is 'Drastically Underfunded'
Des Moines Register: Iowa Medicaid Payment Shortages Are 'Catastrophic,' Private Managers Tell State
The for-profit companies running Iowa’s Medicaid program have been complaining to state administrators that the controversial project is “drastically underfunded” and that the situation has been a “catastrophic experience,” newly released documents show. One managed care executive wrote that Iowa’s recent offer to give the companies an extra $127.7 million in state and federal money this budget year “is not acceptable.” He added that without major changes, the privately run Medicaid program could be unsustainable. (Leys, 12/21)
Iowa Public Radio: Medicaid Privatization Opponent Questions The Program's Viability
Opponents of the privatization of Iowa’s Medicaid system say recent revelations show the program should not be run by for-profit companies. A Des Moines Register report this week revealed the three companies in charge of Iowa Medicaid say they are facing dramatic losses. (Boden, 12/22)
KQED: Why Are California Republicans Prioritizing Dental Care For The Poor?
Democrats have traditionally been the ones to champion health care programs for low-income Californians. But this month, Republicans proposed a bill that would put $200 million dollars toward improving Denti-Cal, the state’s free dental care program for the poor. (Dembosky, 12/22)
California Healthline: New Rules To Limit Medi-Cal ‘Death Fees’
Six months after her mother died in 2014, Karen Craig opened her mailbox to find a bill for $9,530.06. It came from Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the Medicaid program for low-income people, which was seeking repayment for her mother’s medical care even though she had used her coverage just once, for a routine wellness exam. (Bazar, 12/23)
Kaiser Health News: Montana May Be Model For Medicaid Work Requirement
Montana State Senator Ed Buttrey is a no-nonsense businessman from Great Falls. Like a lot of Republicans, he’s not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, nor its expansion of Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor and disabled. ... So Buttrey wrote a Medicaid expansion bill for Montana that linked the health coverage to a job training program. He wanted everyone getting benefits to have to meet with a labor specialist who would help them figure out how to get a job or to get a better paying job. (Whitney, 12/23)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Broader Access To Costly Hep C Drugs May Yield Few Benefits For Pa. Medicaid, Study Finds
A new study that projects what could happen if Pennsylvania covered the costly treatment of hepatitis C for everyone in Medicaid yields some surprises for policymakers nationwide: Few lives would be saved. Some patients might actually fare worse. The federal government would likely reap savings, at the expense of the states. The counter-intuitive findings from the University of Pittsburgh may become part of pitched debates in state capitols and the incoming administration in Washington over health-care costs. Hepatitis C is an especially difficult issue. An estimated 3 million Americans are infected with the blood-borne virus but most have no idea until liver problems develop after decades. (Sapatkin, 12/22)
Kansas Health Institute: CMS, Kansas At Odds Over Disability Services Payment Change
A federal agency has instructed Kansas to halt a change in how the state reimburses providers of home and community-based support services, or HCBS, for people with disabilities. But state officials say concerns expressed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are based on false information. “KDHE (the Kansas Department of Health and Environment) and KDADS (the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services) have asked CMS to reconsider the letter they sent because the letter is factually inaccurate,” Brandt Haehn, the commissioner of HCBS, said in a phone interview this week. (Marso, 12/22)
