Red States Go Back To The Drawing Board As Roadblocks Derail Medicaid Work Requirements
Legal rulings have made red states more hesitant to try to implement work requirements, but Republicans aren't throwing in the towel yet. Work requirements "are not dead, but they're certainly on life support," said Joan Alker, of Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. "The reasons for states not to go down this path are piling up." Medicaid news comes out of Missouri, Wyoming and Maine, as well.
Modern Healthcare:
GOP States To Swerve As Medicaid Work Requirements Hit Legal Wall
The Trump administration and red states haven't given up on curbing Medicaid enrollment and imposing work requirements after recent setbacks, but they are going back to the drawing board to figure out how they can reach their goals. The fall season hasn't been kind to the administration and its allies, who have sought to require able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries work, volunteer or search for employment as a condition of coverage. Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit signaled last month that it would jettison work requirement waivers in Arkansas and Kentucky because the CMS didn't take into account their effects on health coverage when it approved the waivers. (Brady, 11/7)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Petition To Place Medicaid Expansion On Ballot Is Quarter Of Way There, Organizers Say
Organizers of a campaign to expand Medicaid in Missouri said Thursday they have collected a quarter of the 172,000 signatures required to place the issue on the November ballot next year. About a dozen doctors, including Dr. Timothy Eberlein, director of Siteman Cancer Center, also spent part of the day knocking on doors and collecting more signatures in the Tower Grove South neighborhood in St. Louis. The doctors say patients without insurance forgo screenings or wait until problems are severe before seeking care, which ends up being more expensive in the long run. (Munz, 11/7)
Casper Star Tribune:
Wyoming Health Officials Say Medicaid Expansion Would Likely Cover 19,000 Within Two Years
An estimated 19,000 people would be covered within two years if Medicaid were expanded in Wyoming, according to an analysis presented to lawmakers Thursday, just days before legislators will again consider expansion. Wyoming stands almost alone among its neighbors in the West in not expanding Medicaid, which would extend the joint state and federal program to include those at 138 percent of the poverty line, which is roughly $26,000 a year for a family of four. The Legislature here has repeatedly rejected attempts to expand Medicaid, often killing bills before they see the light of day. (Klamann, 11/7)
Portland Press Herald:
Maine Looks To Overhaul Its $83 Million Medicaid Transportation System
Maine is looking to revamp its $83 million Medicaid transportation system, taking the step six years after thousands of Mainers needing rides to their medical appointments were left at the curb. The overhaul could include consolidating an array of transportation services – including rides to doctor’s appointments, for child welfare services and for those with intellectual disabilities or mental illness – into one system. (Lawlor, 11/8)
