Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rulings On Medicaid Work Requirements Could Make Some Hesitant Red States Walk Away From Expansion Altogether
Modern Healthcare: CMS, States Face Difficult Choices On Medicaid Expansion, Work Requirements
The Trump administration and many states face a complex set of policy decisions in the wake of a federal judge’s decision vacating Medicaid work requirement waivers in Kentucky and Arkansas. In his paired rulings last week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., struck at a centerpiece of the administration’s health policy when he ruled that HHS Secretary Alex Azar exceeded his discretionary authority in approving waivers that could lead to tens of thousands of people losing Medicaid coverage. The secretary did not adequately consider the coverage impact, given that the objective of the Medicaid Act is to provide coverage, he wrote. “We will continue to defend our efforts to give states greater flexibility to help low-income Americans rise out of poverty,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a written statement, although an agency spokesman said March 28 that no appeal decisions have been made yet. (Meyer, 3/30)
The Associated Press: Nebraska's Medicaid Expansion Could Take Another 18 Months
Nebraska residents who qualify for voter-approved Medicaid expansion coverage will have to wait 18 months and may have to get a job if they want some benefits under a state proposal that drew immediate criticism Monday from supporters of the federal health care law. Officials with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to bring the new system live on Oct. 1, 2020. The long timetable and additional requirements imposed on some recipients was blasted by leaders of the state's Medicaid expansion ballot campaign, who said they were looking at ways to challenge it. (Schulte, 4/1)
Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska's Medicaid Expansion Plan Won't Start Until Late 2020, Has Different Benefits, Requirements
State officials announced a plan Monday under which some 94,000 low-income Nebraskans will have to wait until Oct. 1, 2020, to get the Medicaid coverage approved by voters last year. To get full coverage, patients will have to be working, caring for a family member, volunteering, looking for work, or attending college or an apprenticeship. ... But the timeline did not sit well with State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, who led the petition drive to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot. He said that the implementation would take a year longer than it has taken any other state and that the plan would restrict coverage for some. (Stoddard, 4/1)
MTN News: Montana House Approves Medicaid Expansion Bill
The Montana House has given its final approval to the bill continuing Medicaid expansion, which provides health coverage to 96,000 low-income adults in the state. The House approved House Bill 658 on a 61-37 vote on Saturday, sending it on to the Senate — where it’s expected to pass. (Dennison, 4/1)
Des Moines Register: Health Care: Iowa, UnitedHealthcare Dispute Reasons The Company Is Quitting
Iowa's leaders and one of the nation's largest health insurers blamed each other Monday for a Medicaid breakdown that will force 425,000 Iowans to switch to new policies. A UnitedHealthcare executive said his company is bailing out of Iowa's Medicaid program because the state won't spend enough money to provide services for the poor and disabled Iowans who use it. The company denied state leaders' allegation the giant health insurer actually was leaving because it didn't want to be held accountable for the quality of its services. (Leys, 4/1)
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Officials Respond To Private Medicaid Management Company Leaving State
State officials responded Monday to the recently announced departure of one of the two private companies that manage the government-run health insurance program for poor and disabled Iowans. Democrats in the Iowa Legislature said the departure of UnitedHealthcare, which manages the care of about 425,000 Iowans, shows privatized management of Medicaid does not work. (Sostaric, 4/1)
Modern Healthcare: Illinois' Medicaid Managed-Care Program Is Costing Hospitals
Sinai Health System administrators were surprised when a Medicaid managed-care insurer refused to reimburse the hospital chain for treating a patient with two broken bones. It's not uncommon for medical claims to be denied by the private insurers administering Medicaid benefits in Illinois—especially when doctors fail to request prior authorization. But a doctor can't get approval to operate on someone two weeks before he's injured in a car accident, as Sinai CEO Karen Teitelbaum points out. (Goldberg, 4/1)
Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Has Erased Insurance For At Least 128,000 Children
Like so many others, Heather Hantz found out the hard way that her son's health insurance had vanished. Hantz, 44, a Tennessee single mom whose 6-year-old son, Harrison, has autism, moved into a new house last summer, then called the state government to provide her new address. It was critical, she knew, that she update her son's file at TennCare, a massive Medicaid program that provided him with essential health care coverage. (Kelman, 4/1)
