Tenn. Gov. Says Federal Approach To Medicaid ‘Feels Awfully Heavy Handed’
The recent announcement that federal officials will tie special hospital funding for uncompensated care to states' decisions on whether to expand Medicaid is raising some concerns. Meanwhile PolitiFact examines Medicaid claims in Florida.
The Tennessean:
Haslam Questions Fed Health Care Funding Review
The federal government's review of how much money it spends to help pay for the hospital costs of low-income people in Tennessee and other states that didn't expand Medicaid feels like a threat to Gov. Bill Haslam. "The way they're approaching this feels awfully heavy handed: OK, well if you don't do that, then we're going to restrict the pool of money that we give you for indigent care," Haslam told reporters Thursday. (Boucher and Fletcher, 4/23)
Related KHN coverage: Tennessee, Kansas Also Get Warning: Expand Medicaid Or Risk Hospital Funds (Galewitz, 4/21)
Bloomberg Politics:
Republican Governors May Pay Price For Refusing To Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare
Because of special arrangements that predate Obamacare, four states that haven’t expanded Medicaid have been getting billions each year in extra funding to pay for the care of people who are uninsured. That’s about to change. On April 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal funding to the states for health programs, alerted Florida officials that CMS plans to let the $1.3 billion the state gets annually to help hospitals cover the cost of treating uninsured patients lapse at the end of June. (Tozzi, 4/23)
PolitiFact Florida:
Fact-Checking Claims About Medicaid In Florida
A feud over Medicaid expansion that stretches from Tallahassee to the White House means the Florida Legislature may not pass a budget by the time the session ends on May 1. PolitiFact Florida has been fact-checking the fight over whether more poor Floridians will be able to qualify for heavily subsidized health insurance. The federal government is offering billions if Florida expands Medicaid, paying 100 percent of the expansion at first and gradually downshifting to 90 percent in later years. The program currently eats up a sizable portion of the state budget. (Gillin and Sherman, 4/23)
