To Close Budget Gaps, Alaska Cut Dental Care For Low-Income Adults. But Advocates Say That Will Be More Costly In Long Run.
"We can't continue to be all things for all people," Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in June, "we don't have the money to do that." But advocates say preventive dental care saves money because it catches problems before they become more costly. Medicaid news comes out of Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
KTUU:
Alaska Man Had His Teeth Pulled, But Now Can't Afford Dentures After Elimination Of Medicaid Dental Coverage
Medicaid dental coverage has been eliminated for adults with Gov. Mike Dunleavy's vetoes, a cut of $27 million. It affects Alaskans like Michael Shelden who, after years of dental pain, had all of his teeth extracted with plans of going back four weeks later for dentures. But before he could get new teeth, the plan was vetoed. "I cried. I still cry. I wake up and I cry at night," Shelden said. (Palsha, 7/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Michigan Health Chief: Medicaid Work Rules Will Drive Up Uncompensated Care, Cost Lives
The state's top health official predicted Thursday that Michigan's forthcoming work and employment-reporting requirements for low-income adults on Medicaid will lead to more uncompensated care for hospitals and lower life expectancies. Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said his agency is trying to take proactive measures to educate the nearly 680,000 low-income adults in the Healthy Michigan program about the Legislature's work requirements that go into effect Jan. 1, 2020. (Livengood, 7/19)
WOSU Radio:
Lawmaker Unhappy With DeWine's Vetoes On Medicaid, Health Care
Nearly half of the 25 vetoes that Gov. Mike DeWine issued when he signed the two-year state budget deal with health care and Medicaid, which is the state’s largest program. A member of the conference committee that worked on the compromise budget deal isn’t happy with those rejections. Ever since former Gov. John Kasich pushed through Medicaid expansion in 2013, lawmakers have pushed back on Medicaid policy in the budget. (Kasler, 7/22)
Tribune News Service:
Standoff Over Medicaid And Budget Drags On. For The Uninsured, There's A Lot At Stake.
Adrienne Hayes-Singleton falls in the Medicaid coverage gap, which would close if the state says yes to full Medicaid expansion. Hayes-Singleton, 36, of Wilmington, works in early childhood education and makes too much money to be covered under Medicaid as the program stands now in North Carolina. Her children are on Medicaid, and her husband, a disabled veteran, gets free health care, she said. But she doesn’t, and is the only steady income in her household. (7/21)
Biz Times:
Medicaid Expansion Still On The Table
Gov. Tony Evers was unable to push Medicaid expansion through in his first state budget, a centerpiece of his 2018 campaign against former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who rejected the federal funding provided under the Affordable Care Act. However, now that Evers has signed the 2019-’21 budget into law, the question of Medicaid expansion isn’t likely to disappear from view, with the governor pledging to continue fighting for the program’s expansion. (Anderson, 7/22)
