Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pressure Rises On Biden As Millions, Including Kids, Lose Medicaid
The Hill: Biden Urged To Get Tough As Millions Lose Medicaid
Millions of people are being pushed off state Medicaid rolls as the U.S. dismantles one of the last major Covid-era safety nets, and congressional Democrats and health advocates want the Biden administration to do more to ensure people are protected. Nationwide, nearly 5.5 million people have been purged from state Medicaid rolls across 45 states and the District of Columbia, according to health policy research group KFF. (Weixel, 8/28)
CNN: An ‘Obscene’ Number Of Kids Are Losing Medicaid Coverage
For months, Evangelina Hernandez watched helplessly as her autistic twin sons regressed – their screaming, biting and scratching worsening. The Wichita, Kansas, resident couldn’t afford the $3,000 monthly tab for their 10 prescriptions or their doctor visits without Medicaid. The toddlers, along with three of their sisters, lost their health insurance in May, swept up in the state’s eligibility review of all its Medicaid enrollees. Hernandez said she only received the renewal packet a day before it was due and mailed it back right away. She also called KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program, and filled out another application over the phone, certain that the kids remained eligible. (Luhby, 8/26)
Axios: How Medicaid Is Trying To Boost School's Health Funding
Schools across the country are missing out on millions of dollars from an unlikely federal source — Medicaid — because of longstanding bureaucratic hurdles that the Biden administration is now trying to address. (Harris, 8/29)
In Medicaid news from North Carolina and Texas —
AP: Medicaid Expansion Won't Begin In North Carolina On Oct. 1 Because There's Still No Final Budget
With the state budget’s passage now two months late, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration announced Monday that it can’t start the implementation of Medicaid expansion to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults in the early fall as it had wanted. State Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley said that expansion won’t begin on Oct. 1, which in July he unveiled as the start date — provided that a budget law was enacted by Sept. 1. (Robertson, 8/28)
WOAI San Antonio: Upcoming Medicaid Changes Could Affect Medical Care For Children And Women
Physicians who take Medicaid will start to see payment increases for certain office visits. Children’s wellness visits are one of the fields affected. “This last legislative session, there were some payment increases for Medicaid services, specifically payment for office visits to children including well-child visits,” said Dr. Zeke Silva, President of the Bexar County Medical Society. Doctors will also see payment increases for certain women’s health visits. (8/27)
