Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Louisiana Governor Marks Medicaid Expansion Anniversary With Patients Who Got Critical Care
The Associated Press: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards Defends Medicaid Expansion, As GOP Works On Repeal
Gov. John Bel Edwards laid out his defense for Louisiana's Medicaid expansion by having some of the program's patients describe the medical services they've received. Twenty-three-year-old Monika Calderon spoke of severe headaches that were diagnosed as a brain tumor. Medicaid expansion covered the cost of her surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. On Thursday, the last day of her treatments, she hoped to be healthy enough to return to college by summer. (Deslatte, 1/12)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Gov. Edwards Marks Louisiana's Medicaid Expansion Anniversary As Congress Peels Back Obamacare
As Congress continues toward a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday (Jan. 12) marked the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion in Louisiana. He and other officials came to University Medical Center in New Orleans to share numbers and anecdotes about its impact in what was a de facto local rally to counter to calls in Washington, D.C., for an end to Obamacare. (LaRose, 1/12)
Arkansas Online: 330,943 In State Covered By Medicaid Expansion
Enrollment in Arkansas' expanded Medicaid program topped 333,000 in November before dropping to about 331,000 at the end of the year, according to state figures released Thursday. The numbers also show the cost of the private option, which covers most of the newly eligible Medicaid recipients, totaled about $1.5 billion in 2016, compared with about $1.2 billion in 2015 and $774 million in 2014. The federal government paid the full cost of the expanded Medicaid program through the end of last year, but starting this year, Arkansas is responsible for 5 percent of the cost. (Davis, 1/13)
KCUR (Kansas City, Mo., Public Radio): Kansas Lawmakers Racing Clock To Expand Medicaid
It very well might be too late, but some Kansas lawmakers are moving ahead on a plan to expand KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program. The House Health and Human Services Committee voted Thursday to introduce an expansion bill at the request of Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican. (McClean, 1/12)
WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.): Audit: County Offices Still Making Medicaid Mistakes
North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services needs to do a better job of making sure counties follow the rules when they figure out if someone is or is not eligible for the Medicaid health insurance program, an audit released Thursday reports. State Auditor Beth Wood said the issues identified by her office have been ongoing over the course of at least three gubernatorial administrations and have remained despite a number of changes to how North Carolina's Medicaid system operates. (Binker, 1/12)
Raleigh News & Observer: Wake County Misses Deadlines In Handling Medicaid Applications, According To A State Audit
Wake County performed the worst of 10 counties tested for efficiency in handling new Medicaid applications, according to a state audit released Thursday. The audit examined 250 new applications out of the more than 50,000 processed by Wake in the year ending last June. Wake took too long to determine eligibility for 26 percent of the applicants for enrollment in the government health insurance program that covers poor children, some of their parents, the elderly and the disabled. (Bonner, 1/12)
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal: State Auditor Finds Errors Persist With Processing Medicaid Applications
A state audit of how 10 county social-services departments handle Medicaid eligibility processing found Wilkes County with the best overall performance and urban counties with middling efforts. The report by the N.C. Office of the State Auditor, released Thursday, surveyed three urban (Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake), one suburban (Rowan) and six rural counties (Jones, Madison, Rutherford, Vance, Washington and Wilkes). The office said the findings should not be considered a statewide assessment. (Craver, 1/12)
Sacramento Bee: CA Gov. Jerry Brown Keeps Tobacco Tax Money Doctors Wanted
Doctors have long argued that the money they receive for serving Medi-Cal patients isn’t enough to sustain a practice, leading to a shortage of medical providers willing to treat California’s poorest residents in rural communities and other pockets of the state. But they have been unable to persuade a fiscally restrained Gov. Jerry Brown to allocate money in the state budget to raise reimbursement rates. (Luna, 1/12)
