Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Virginia House Takes Aim At State Senate's Plans To Expand Medicaid
Richmond Times Dispatch: Battle Of Virginia's Budgets Intensifies As House Committee Takes Aim At Senate Alternative To Medicaid Expansion
The battle of the budgets intensified on Tuesday, as the House Appropriations Committee took aim at a Senate proposal to expand services in Virginia’s Medicaid program without paying for them, rather than use additional federal money to fully expand the program for more than 300,000 uninsured Virginians under the Affordable Care Act. The House Appropriations Committee released an analysis of the Senate proposal to amend an existing Medicaid waiver. It estimates the full cost at $441.5 million to serve almost 61,000 Virginians with mental illness, substance use disorders or life-threatening, complex medical conditions. (Martz, 2/27)
The Associated Press: House Panel OKs Medicaid Plan, But 2 Hospitals Would Close
Illinois hospitals would get $360 million more in federal Medicaid funding, but two facilities serving impoverished communities would close, under a plan a House committee approved Tuesday. The Appropriations-Human Services Committee voted 14-0 on a revised, $3.5 billion program to fund hospitals statewide. Lawmakers and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, which represents over 200 hospitals in the state, have been working for months to update the program in compliance with federal requirements that more Medicaid clients be covered by cost-cutting managed-care systems. (Zimmerman, 2/27)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton Co. Healthcare Providers Have Overbilled Medicaid For Over $6M
Ohio Auditor David Yost is cracking down on deceptive healthcare providers who have cost the state more than $33.3 million in the past seven years, according to data released from his office. “For too long, dishonest providers have exploited vulnerabilities in the Medicaid program with little consequence,” Yost said in a news release.Ohio's Medicaid system serves "millions of users" and currently accounts for 39.3 percent of the state budget, Yost said. (Knight, 2/27)
Georgia Health News: Bigger Allowance Urged For Nursing Home Residents In Georgia
“Fifty dollars just doesn’t go far,’’ Bryant Kimbrell says. Kimbrell, 67, is referring to the amount of money that a nursing home resident on Medicaid now gets every month as a personal needs allowance. A resident of a nursing home in Sylvester, in South Georgia, Kimbrell says he supports an increase in that allotment to $70 per month. “We need it,’’ he says. (Miller, 2/27)
