Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nevada, Where 20% Of People Are On Medicaid, Keenly Watches Federal Health Debate
Las Vegas Review-Journal: How Medicaid, And Its Costs, Grew In Nevada
Nevada’s Medicaid program, caught in the political crossfire over rising health-care costs, is far different than the limited federal-state health insurance partnership for the “deserving poor” that President Lyndon Johnson unveiled in 1965. As documented in the first installment of the Review-Journal’s Hard Medicine series, Nevada has a lot riding on the debate over Medicaid. The Silver State is one of 31 states and the District of Columbia that used a provision of the Affordable Care Act to expand their Medicaid programs. As a result, 637,795 Nevada residents — about 20 percent of the total state population — now get some or all of their health-care costs paid through the program. (Harasim, 8/28)
Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune: As Health Care Debate Simmers, Mead Laments Lack Of Medicaid Expansion In Wyoming
Gov. Matt Mead lamented the $100 million that Wyoming left on the table by choosing not to expand Medicaid, and he expressed concern for the state’s hospitals while discussing health care with the Star-Tribune recently. Mead echoed some of the fears that many Wyoming hospital officials have expressed for months: that congressional proposals to overhaul the health care system may have negative effects on facilities here and that the state has suffered because it chose not to allow more people to qualify for Medicaid. (Klamann, 8/27)
Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star: Bridge Losing Medicaid Funding For Civil Protective Custody
[I]n 1979, the state abolished public intoxication as a crime, and cities such as Lincoln turned to a less-expensive alternative than jail for people who commit a minor crime while drunk or high or who are so high or drunk they are a danger to themselves or others. In Lincoln, the Bridge (formerly Cornhusker Place) fills that role, providing a safe place for several thousand people a year in a program called civil protective custody. But the Bridge is facing the loss of $50,000 to $60,000 a year in federal Medicaid funds from its $650,000 annual civil protective custody budget. And the nonprofit agency fears it could lose even more under the state’s new managed-care system. (Hicks, 8/27)
