State Highlights: Fla. Governor Orders Hospital Audits; Ind. Medicare Software Firm Hacked; Ariz. Medicaid Plan Includes Lifetime Limits

The Associated Press: Scott Wants Examination Of Medicaid Insurance, Hospital Contracts’ Rates
Gov. Rick Scott is targeting health insurers participating in [Florida's] Medicaid program, accusing them of negotiating hospital rates that are too high, which he says is the reason the new managed care program is not generating enough savings. Scott instructed state health officials in a letter Monday to examine hospital contracts, warning that those with rates higher than 120 percent of the Medicaid cap will be subject to an “immediate corrective action plan” that could nullify the contracts and kick insurers out of the Medicaid program. (Kennedy, 8/3)

Tampa Bay Times: Gov. Scott Instructs AHCA Secretary To Audit Hospitals, Insurance Plans
After demanding that hospitals and insurance companies prove their Medicaid contracts are below state-mandated limits, Gov. Rick Scott is dispatching Agency for Health Care Administration to audit those that did not send the state information by an Aug. 1 deadline. The audit announcement came in a letter Scott sent to AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek Monday. Hospitals and insurance plans whose contracts AHCA auditors find are above a cap in state law of 120 percent of the Medicaid rate limit could be cancelled by the agency, Scott wrote. Those hospitals could also become ineligible for taxpayer funding under the Low Income Pool. (Austen, 8/3)

The Associated Press: Indiana Medicare Software Company Hack Affected 3.9M People
Indiana medical software company has reported the private information of 3.9 million people nationwide was exposed when its networks were hacked earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Monday. Medical Informatics Engineering reported the number of people affected by the hack to the federal agency on July 23. (8/3)

The Arizona Republic: Gov. Doug Ducey’s Medicaid Plan Calls For Lifetime Limits, Copays
Gov. Doug Ducey’s plan to modernize Arizona’s Medicaid program has numerous details yet to be worked out. And much of it hinges on approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Its intent is clear: Require the estimated 350,000 able-bodied adults on AHCCCS to take more responsibility for their health coverage through copays and incentives to find work. The idea is to promote healthy, employable people and move them out of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System before a five-year lifetime limit would cut them off for good. (Pitzl, 8/3)

Kaiser Health News: Competition Improves Obamacare Choices In Rural Northern California
People who live in rural Northern California will see more choice and competition in the health insurance marketplace next year, giving consumers a better chance of finding a plan — and a doctor — that can meet their needs. The changes, announced last week by the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace Covered California, will now allow some consumers to cross state lines for care. That means Californians living near the Oregon or Nevada borders can get subsidies to buy plans that pay for care in those states, something that previously was not allowed. (Bartolone, 8/4)

Albuquerque Journal: ‘Amazing’ Drug To Cost NM Medicaid $140M
A revolutionary but expensive treatment for hepatitis C will cost New Mexico’s Medicaid program an estimated $140 million this year, even though the drugs are available only to the sickest patients who number fewer than 1,800, according to a recent report by the state Legislative Finance Committee. The report offers the first public data about costs New Mexico faces for new “near-perfect” treatments for hepatitis C, a deadly viral disease that attacks the liver. The high cost of the drugs – up to $93,000 for a single course of treatment – has led New Mexico and most other states to limit Medicaid coverage to patients diagnosed with advanced liver disease. (Uyttebrouck, 8/3)

The Sacramento Bee: Pharmacies To Begin Prescribing Birth Control Under New State Law
As early as this fall, California women who have long had to schedule a doctor’s appointment for a birth control prescription will be able to go straight to the pharmacy for the contraception. (Kuang, 8/3)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Deaf Kansans Request Medicaid Changes
It’s common knowledge that a child’s first years are critical for language development. But what if that child is deaf and has parents who don’t know sign language? Chriz Dally, a board member of the Kansas Association of the Deaf, posed that scenario last month at a meeting of state officials and members of the National Council on Disability. Between 90 percent and 95 percent of deaf children have hearing parents with no experience with deaf people or American Sign Language (ASL), Dally said. That sets back deaf children academically, compared to their hearing peers, by the time they arrive in school. (Marso, 8/3)

The Texas Tribune: Lawmakers Ditch $200 Fee For Lawyers, Doctors, Brokers
For tens of thousands of lawyers, doctors and engineers, a new Texas law is going to mean more money in their pockets. Fourteen years after the Legislature first tacked on a $200 annual licensing fee for some occupations, lawmakers passed a law this year repealing the so-called professionals tax. Over the years, as the state's business tax structure had changed, the fee had morphed into a form of double taxation, critics argued. (Batheja and Lin, 8/3)

The Miami Herald: Miami Mental Health Director's Medicare Conviction Thrown Out
An imprisoned woman who worked for a Miami-based mental health clinic at the center of a massive Medicare racket will likely be freed after a federal appeals court Monday threw out her conspiracy conviction. Vanja Abreu, PhD, former program director of American Therapeutic Corp. in Miami, was convicted with others in 2012 of defrauding the taxpayer-funded federal program by submitting false claims for psychological treatment that patients either didn’t need or receive. (Weaver, 8/3)

The Associated Press: Arkansas Governor Names New Senior Health Policy Adviser
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has hired a staffer for fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton as his new senior health policy adviser. Hutchinson's office on Monday announced he had hired John Martin to the post, starting Sept. 8. Martin is currently Cotton's deputy legislative director, which he has advised the freshman senator on domestic policy issues such as health care and agriculture. Martin previously worked on former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson's unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid in Wisconsin and also has worked as a consultant for Deloitte. (8/3)

The Detroit Free Press: Urgent Care Without The Wait Comes To Downtown Detroit
As the heartbeat of Detroit's downtown grows stronger, an urgent care clinic opens today to serve the residents and workers who stream through its arteries each work week with laptops and lattes. Many of them have grown up on smartphones and expect immediate service for their health needs, said Frederika Robinson, a nurse practitioner who will help lead medical care at the new Henry Ford Health System clinic, 1515 Woodward. Patients can reserve a spot that day online, avoiding the need for a waiting room — a service much like a restaurant's call-ahead seating. Texts remind patients of their visits. (Erb, 8/3)