Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Medicaid Chief Tells Lawmakers He Will Make Managed Care Work
Des Moines Register: Iowa's Privately Run Medicaid Program Here To Stay, DHS Leader Says
Iowa won't turn back from its controversial shift to a privately run Medicaid program, the state’s top human services administrator told legislators Wednesday. “I’m going to make it work. I believe we are down the managed-care course at this point, and that’s where we’re going to stay,” Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven told the Senate Human Resources Committee. ... Foxhoven acknowledged there have been problems in the transition to having national companies run the $5 billion health care system for more than 500,000 poor or disabled Iowans. He pointed specifically to delayed payments from the managed-care companies to agencies providing care to Medicaid members. (Leys, 1/17)
Des Moines Register: Bill Would Allow Iowa’s Disabled To Avoid Managed Care In Medicaid
Tens of thousands of disabled Iowans who rely on Medicaid would no longer have to deal with private managed-care companies under a bill now being considered by state lawmakers. Senate File 2013 would create an exemption from the managed-care component of Medicaid for disabled and elderly Iowans who rely on long-term support services such as housing, meals, employment and transportation. Such a change likely will face stiff resistance from GOP lawmakers who support managed care and don’t want to create a two-tiered system of Medicaid. (Kauffman, 1/17)
The Oregonian: What Is Measure 101? Answers To Frequently Asked Questions
Measure 101 would impose a 0.7 percent tax on large hospitals and a 1.5 percent tax on many health insurance policies. The taxes would raise $210 million to $320 million in the current two-year budget. ... Oregon is one of the states that expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act in 2014, to allow people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify. ... A lot of people qualified under the new guidelines, and our state added 375,000 people to Medicaid. At first, the federal government covered the entire cost. But states were supposed to gradually pitch in more and more, and Oregon has to come up with its share. That raised the state's yearly cost about $136 million. (Borrud, 1/17)
The Oregonian: Oregon Hospitals: Please Tax Us To Relieve ER Demand, Net Nearly $1 Billion From Feds
The forces fighting hardest to promote Measure 101, a ballot measure that would tax Oregon's large hospitals and most insurance policies, are the same entities that would pay a majority of those taxes. Why? When poor uninsured patients show up in the emergency room, hospitals are required to treat them even if those people can't pay. They say that's more expensive and less effective than keeping patients insured and giving them less costly preventative and routine care. (Borrud, 1/17)
The CT Mirror: State, Hospitals Butt Heads Over Proposed Rate Hikes
Connecticut hit another snag Wednesday as it tries to develop a new taxing arrangement with its hospitals that would leverage millions of dollars in new federal funding to help both the state and the industry. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration notified legislators that most hospitals are contesting increases in state payments to these facilities for treating poor, under-insured patients. Hospitals assert these increases are insufficient to correct longstanding imbalances. (Phaneuf, 1/17)
AL.com: Alabama May Require Some Medicaid Recipients To Work
Gov. Kay Ivey has directed Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar to formulate a policy to implement work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The move comes after the Trump administration sent a letter to State Medicaid Directors informing them states could apply for waivers to require non-disabled working age Medicaid recipients to get a job, volunteer, go to school or enter a work training program. (Gore, 1/17)
