Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Massachusetts Looks To ACOs As Model For Revamped Medicaid Program
Boston Globe: Here’s What We Know About The State’s Plan To Revamp MassHealth
The Massachusetts Medicaid program is being overhauled. Governor Charlie Baker’s administration on Friday received federal approval to make the biggest changes in two decades to the taxpayer-funded program called MassHealth, which provides health coverage to 1.9 million poor and low-income individuals and families. The goal is to better coordinate care for MassHealth members while controlling public spending. (Dayal McCluskey, 11/8)
Des Moines Register: Family Planning Clinic Closure Blamed On Medicaid Shift
The leader of a longstanding family planning clinic in Marshalltown blames Iowa’s switch to privately managed Medicaid for her clinic’s looming closure. Central Iowa Family Planning has announced that it will stop seeing patients Friday. The clinic offers confidential access to birth control and free testing for sexually transmitted diseases. The Marshalltown clinic and a satellite office in Grinnell served a total of nearly 1,800 patients last year, Executive Director Mandi Beeghly said Monday. (Leys, 11/7)
And in Kansas, advocates press for Medicaid expansion —
Kansas Health Institute: Medicaid Expansion Advocates Focus On Mental Health, Public Safety As Election Nears
Advocates for Medicaid expansion in Kansas are focusing on a new issue in their final push before Tuesday’s election. They’re selling expansion as a way to address the state’s mental health crisis and the public safety concerns it’s raising among local officials. With state mental health hospitals operating at capacity and community mental health centers curtailing services because of state budget cuts, people with mental illness have fewer treatment options. As a consequence, more are running afoul of the criminal justice system, said Rick Cagan, director of the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. (McLean, 11/7)
