To Make Up For Federal Medicaid Cuts, Calif. County Aims To Raise Sales Taxes
Santa Clara County will add a ballot measure to November's special election. “We cannot afford to sit back and tell ourselves it won’t be that bad because it will, for all of us,” County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said. Plus, more news on the Medicaid reductions.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area County Could Raise Taxes To Offset Trump Medicaid Cuts
In response to recent federal legislation that cuts billions of dollars to Medicaid, Santa Clara County supervisors on Thursday unanimously voted to add a ballot measure to November’s special election that would increase local sales tax by five-eighth cent (0.625%) for five years to try to backfill some of the projected lost federal revenue. The federal legislation HR 1 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in July. It includes the biggest cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income Americans, in the program’s history. (Ho, 8/7)
North Carolina Health News:
Medicaid Program That Provided Economic Boost To Rural NC Communities On The Chopping Block
North Carolina’s first-in-the-nation Healthy Opportunities Pilot, which sought to address the nonmedical health needs of rural residents on Medicaid, faces a bleak future after state lawmakers failed to extend funding for the program in their stripped-down “mini budget” passed last month. (Baxley, 8/8)
Bloomberg:
Medicaid Cuts Set To Drain Revenue At Elite Teaching Hospitals In US
Few in the US healthcare sector are immune to the effects of Washington’s recent cuts to Medicaid, even the cash-rich teaching hospitals affiliated with top-notch medical schools. These facilities, often known as academic medical centers or AMCs, are usually seen as the cream of the industry crop for their top-tier credit ratings and ability to churn out revenue. But federal cuts to the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people will lead to less funding for teaching hospitals around the country. In response, they’ve already started to reduce staff and scale back operations. (Hudson and Rembert, 8/7)
KFF Health News:
Even In States That Fought Obamacare, Trump’s New Law Poses Health Consequences
GOP lawmakers in the 10 states that refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for over a decade have argued their conservative approach to growing government programs would pay off in the long run. Instead, the Republican-passed budget law that includes many of President Donald Trump’s priorities will pose at least as big a burden on patients and hospitals in the expansion holdout states as in the 40 states that have extended Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults, hospital executives and other officials warn. (Chang and Whitehead, 8/8)
Also —
Axios:
The Pitt Will Tackle Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" And Medicaid Cut
Noah Wyle, the star of "The Pitt," has lobbied for legislation to improve the lives of health care professionals, tackling staffing shortages and burnout. (Lalljee, 8/7)
