Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Seeks To Change Medicaid's Policy Of Covering Retroactive Expenses For New Enrollees
The Associated Press: Iowa's Proposed Medicaid Cut Could Signal New GOP Strategy
Iowa is seeking permission from President Donald Trump's administration to cut a key benefit for all its Medicaid recipients, a move that could foreshadow other state-level efforts to change the safety net program after Congress repeatedly failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Federal health officials could decide soon whether to back Iowa's proposal, which would cut retroactive payments for poor or disabled residents for medical needs incurred up to three months before they registered for or re-enrolled in Medicaid. The state wants a decision by Oct. 1, though such a timeline appears unlikely. (Rodriguez, 9/28)
The Washington Post: Is The GOP Plan For Medicaid Caps Really Bill Clinton’s Idea?
In touting the latest GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which collapsed Sept. 26, former senator Rick Santorum asserted that a key element — capping the per person growth of Medicaid according to a formula — had actually been proposed by Bill Clinton during his presidency. Santorum was a critic of Clinton at the time — as a senator, Santorum voted to find Clinton guilty during the impeachment trial — and so it is striking to see him cite Clinton as a source for a key GOP policy proposal. (Kessler, 9/28)
Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Democrats Renew Call For Medicaid Expansion Special Session
In another longshot bid to provide hundreds of thousands of low-income Tennesseans with government-funded affordable health care, Tennessee Democrats are asking Gov. Bill Haslam to call a special legislative session to take up expanding Medicaid eligibility. The move comes after the failure of the latest Republican attempt in the U.S. Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. (Boucher, 9/28)
In other Medicaid news —
Reuters: U.S. Brings New Charges Over Tenet Healthcare Fraud Scheme
The U.S. Justice Department has brought new charges over a scheme that it says enabled Tenet Healthcare Corp to fraudulently bill state Medicaid programs for $400 million, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday. William Moore, the ex-chief executive of Atlanta Medical Center Inc, which had been operated by Tenet; and Edmundo Cota, the ex-head of a clinic operator that provided prenatal care to Hispanic women, were charged in an indictment filed in Atlanta federal court. (Raymond, 9/27)
Des Moines Register: Patients On Ventilators Face Shut Doors At Central Iowa Nursing Homes
The Des Moines area no longer has a place for Ana De La Cruz. The 41-year-old Norwalk woman, who is paralyzed from the neck down, can’t breathe without a ventilator machine’s assistance. ... For the past two years, she lived at Fleur Heights Care Center, the last central Iowa nursing home that took patients on ventilators. But Fleur Heights decided recently to phase out the service. ... The Fleur Heights nursing home blames insufficient and untimely payments from Iowa’s Medicaid program, which covers most disabled Iowans who use long-term ventilators. Just six of Iowa’s 417 nursing homes remain listed as places that accept such patients. (Leys, 9/28)
