Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mississippi Governor Slammed For Stance Against Medicaid Expansion
Mississippi Free Press: As Hospitals Fail, Reeves Urges GOP To Hold Firm Against Medicaid Expansion
Standing inside a shuttered hospital’s abandoned emergency room in Newton County, Miss., on Monday night, Democratic candidate for governor Brandon Presley blamed Gov. Tate Reeves for the fact that more than half of the state’s rural hospitals are in danger of closing. “This is the reality that Tate Reeves has chosen to put us in. Make no mistake, he made this choice,” Presley, a public service commissioner who hopes to unseat Reeves in this year’s elections, said in a video he released on YouTube Monday night. (Crown, 2/2)
AP: Doctor, GOP Governor Clash Over Private Medicaid Discussion
Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a private conversation that expanding Medicaid to people working low-wage jobs would be in the best interest of the state, but that he refuses to support the policy for political reasons, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi said Thursday. Dr. Dan Jones is a physician who led the University of Mississippi Medical Center before serving as chancellor of the university from 2009 to 2015. During a news conference organized by Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, Jones said that Reeves acknowledged in a private conversation with him in 2013 or 2014 that expanding Medicaid would benefit Mississippi’s economy, and provide health care to more residents of a state bedeviled by poor health outcomes. (Goldberg, 2/2)
Mississippi Today: Every Medicaid Expansion Bill Dies Without Debate Or Vote
More than 15 bills that would have expanded Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor died on Tuesday night without debate or a vote. No committee chair in either the Senate or House held a hearing on those Medicaid expansion bills. The House Medicaid Committee, where Speaker of the House Philip Gunn assigned all of the his chamber’s expansion bills, did not even meet a single time before the Jan. 31 deadline to consider general bills. (Harrison, 2/1)
People across the U.S. will lose Medicaid benefits —
Missouri Independent: 200,000 Missourians Estimated To Lose Medicaid As Eligibility Renewals Resume
The director of Missouri’s Medicaid program said he expects “about 200,000” Medicaid enrollees to lose coverage over the course of a year as a result of the state resuming annual eligibility renewals after a three-year pause. (Bates, 2/2)
KMVT: Changes Coming To Medicaid Coverage For 150,000 Idahoans
Changes are on the way for Medicaid enrollees as pandemic-era standards are set to come to an end in the spring. Beginning Wednesday, the Department of Health and Welfare will begin sending notices to the roughly 150,000 people enrolled in Medicaid who no longer qualify. During the pandemic, the federal government halted state departments from ending anyone’s Medicaid coverage and allowed continuous enrollment. (Bruhl, 2/1)
AP: Decisions Loom For Pandemic-Era Medicaid Enrollees
Some Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon have to shop around to maintain health insurance coverage, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The Democratic governor said his administration intends to help people through the transition. “This is a big job,” Beshear said at his weekly news conference. “And it’s one we’ve been planning on for many months and it’s one that we will continue to refine our planning.” (Schreiner, 2/2)
In other Medicaid updates —
NBC 26 Northeast Wisconsin: Emerald Bay Explains Eviction Decision
Executives at BAKA Enterprises, the senior living management company for Emerald Bay Retirement Community & Memory Care in Hobart, held a virtual press conference Thursday morning to explain why they decided to evict some residents from the facility. ... Emerald Bay executives say that the decision to cancel Medicaid contracts is due to a combination of the unprecedented rise in costs associated with providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the low reimbursement rates received from Medicaid, which made it difficult to maintain a high standard of care. (2/2)
McKnight's Long-Term Care News: Unexpected Medicaid Increase Saves 146-Year-Old Nursing Home From Sale
Any Medicaid raise makes a difference to all nursing homes in today’s tight financial environment. But for one historic nonprofit Pennsylvania facility, a final rate determination this month made the difference between preserving a 146-year legacy of service and selling to a for-profit buyer. The board of the Inglis Foundation, the operator of the 252-bed Inglis House outside of Philadelphia, said Tuesday that it had canceled a planned $22 million sale. The decision was spurred by the January posting of new Pennsylvania Medicaid rates for individual nursing homes. (Marselas, 2/2)
AP: North Carolina Medicaid Director Dave Richard To Retire
The official who oversaw the conversion of North Carolina’s Medicaid agency to managed care will retire from state government at the end of the month, the state health department said on Thursday. Dave Richard, the deputy secretary for Medicaid for the last eight years, guided the $21 billion program through the overhaul that went live in July 2021. State Medicaid moved from a traditional fee-for-service model to one in which provider organizations receive fixed monthly payments for every patient seen and treated. (2/2)
