Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republicans' Proposal To Cap Medicaid Spending Could Jeopardize States' Managed Care Plans
Modern Healthcare: GOP Health Plan Could Doom Medicaid Managed Care
Unless it's significantly revamped by the Senate, the House Republicans' bill capping federal Medicaid payments to the states could put Medicaid managed-care plans out of business. The American Health Care Act, passed by the House in early May, would convert Medicaid from an open-ended entitlement to a system of per capita or block grant payments to the states. The growth of those payments would be kept below projected increases in actual Medicaid costs. (Dickson, 6/6)
Modern Healthcare: Health Insurers Question Legality Of New York's New Medicaid Policy
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's move to bar health plans from participating in Medicaid if they withdraw from the state's health insurance marketplace are "disturbing" and may not comply with insurers' Medicaid contracts, said Paul Macielak, chief executive of the New York Health Plan Association. ... Macielak said the policy may not be enforceable because the provision is not part of existing managed-care contracts that run through 2019. Any amendments to those contracts must also be approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (LaMantia, 6/6)
Denver Post: Repealing Medicaid Expansion Could Hit Colorado Budget Hard
Colorado could be on the hook for spending close to $700 million more per year by 2023 if the federal government does away with its enhanced contribution to the Medicaid expansion, according to a new report released Tuesday. The report, from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, found that Colorado could be one of the states most impacted by the repeal of Medicaid expansion that is proposed in the U.S. House of Representative’s version of the GOP health care bill. That’s because the federal government, which splits the cost for Medicaid with each state individually, contributes a below-average amount of money to pay for all other Medicaid patients in Colorado. Ending the feds’ enhanced contribution to the expansion would mean Colorado would have to pay more than others if it wants to maintain coverage for people who gained it through the expansion. (Ingold, 6/6)
Chicago Tribune: Federal Judge Weighing Whether Illinois Must Prioritize Paying Medicaid Bills
A federal judge heard arguments Tuesday over whether Comptroller Susana Mendoza should be required to prioritize payments to some Medicaid providers among Illinois' billions of dollars in unpaid bills that keep piling up during the state budget stalemate. The court dispute reflects the mounting difficulty of balancing Illinois' competing financial obligations in the midst of an ongoing political fight between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly. (Geiger, 6/6)
Reuters: Possible Ruling Soon On Illinois Medicaid Payment Priority
David Chizewer, a lawyer representing the recipients, told [Judge Joan] Lefkow earlier on Tuesday that a court determination giving precedence to Medicaid payments could lead to a compromise with the state over the next few days. Otherwise, the plaintiffs are asking the court to begin contempt proceedings against the nation's fifth-largest state. Illinois officials have warned that an increase in priority payments could push the cash-strapped state to the point where court-mandated spending could exceed available revenue. (Pierog and McKinney, 6/6)
Peoria Public Radio: Medicaid Decision Looms
A federal judge could decide soon whether the state of Illinois should pay Medicaid providers faster during the budget impasse. Tom Yates is an attorney representing low-income Medicaid patients. He says doctors, hospitals and health care organizations could stop seeing those patients very soon because the state is so late in reimbursing what’s already owed to the doctors. (Arnold, 6/6)
KCUR: Lawmakers Approve Funding For Kansas Medicaid, Mental Health Centers
A bill to replace funding for Medicaid and the Kansas mental health system lost to budget-balancing cuts last year is headed to Gov. Sam Brownback. Senate substitute for House Bill 2079 would increase a fee that health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, pay to do business in Kansas from 3.31 percent to 5.77 percent. HMOs are a type of health insurance that typically has lower premiums but only covers care within a network of doctors and hospitals. (Wingerter, 6/6)
Modern Healthcare: Texas Seeks To Renew Medicaid Demonstration Despite Negative Evaluation
Texas is asking the CMS to extend a broad Medicaid waiver program to improve access and quality even though its own evaluation of the program found it has done little to improve access and providers complain it's been administratively cumbersome. Providers expressed particular frustration to survey officials about an uncompensated-care pool created by the demonstration, under which the state makes supplemental payments to them. Compared to a prior uncompensated-care reimbursement model, the pool requires burdensome paperwork and spreadsheets and has resulted in uncertain payment dates and amounts, providers said. (Dickson, 6/6)
Kaiser Health News: GOP Medicaid Cuts Hit Rural America Hardest, Report Finds
Rural America carried President Donald Trump to his election night upset last November. Trump Country it may be, but rural counties and small towns also make up Medicaid Country — those parts of the nation whose low-income children and families are most dependent on the federal-state health insurance program, according to a report released Wednesday. (Galewitz, 6/7)
The Missoulian: 'Die-In' Held At Daines' Office Protests Planned GOP Medicaid Cuts
Travis Hoffman wants Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., to know that any cuts to Medicaid could mean that he can’t continue to be a taxpaying, working citizen. Hoffman, the advocacy coordinator at Summit Independent Living in Missoula, lost the use of his legs and other motor functions in a car accident in 1999. After the crash, the government insurance program Medicaid paid for nearly $1 million worth of treatment, and now the program pays for an in-home personal attendant .... On Tuesday, Hoffman joined three dozen other protesters in front of Daines’ downtown Missoula office for a “Save Medicaid and Die-In” rally, conducted in concert with other events around the country and in Washington, D.C. (Erickson, 6/6)
