Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicaid Is Taking Disproportionately Huge Chunk Of States' Budgets Leaving Little For Other Services
The Wall Street Journal: Why Are States So Strapped For Cash? There Are Two Big Reasons
The only speaker standing between state budget officers and the opening cocktail hour at a Washington conference was the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. What he said left no one in a celebratory mood. Medicaid costs, said then-Secretary Michael Leavitt, were projected to grow so fast that within 10 years they would “crowd out virtually every other category of spending.” State spending on higher education, infrastructure and safety, he predicted, would all get squeezed. (Podkul and Gillers, 3/28)
In other Medicaid news —
Concord (N.H.) Monitor: House Panel Passes N.H. Medicaid Expansion; Bill Heads To Floor Vote
A House committee voted unanimously to extend New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion program Wednesday, adding light changes but steering clear of any major amendments to the bill. Voting 21-0, the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs committee opted to move the legislation along, kicking any further changes to the House Finance Committee. From the get-go, representatives made clear that little would be amended. Opening the hearing, Rep. Frank Kotowski, committee chairman, said major changes Wednesday were unnecessary; the important thing, he said, is that it moves forward. (DeWitt, 3/28)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Seeks Approval For Medicaid Changes, Including Work Mandate
Wisconsin is among the 10 states that want to impose work requirements on some healthy adults who get health insurance through their Medicaid programs. However, unlike Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas, which have received federal approval for work requirements that they plan to implement immediately, Wisconsin’s requirement wouldn’t kick in until a healthy adult hasn’t worked for four straight years. (Boulton, 3/28)
