Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Wild West' Of Assisted-Living Facility Policies As Seniors On Medicaid Evicted
The Washington Post: Seniors On Medicaid Are Getting Evicted From Assisted-Living Homes
Shirley Holtz, 91, used a walker to get around. She had dementia and was enrolled in hospice care. Despite her age and infirmity, Holtz was evicted from the assisted-living facility she called home for four years because she relied on government health insurance for low-income seniors. Holtz was one of 15 residents told to vacate Emerald Bay Retirement Community near Green Bay, Wis., after the facility stopped accepting payment from a state-sponsored Medicaid program. And Emerald Bay is not alone. A recent spate of evictions has ousted dozens of assisted-living residents in Wisconsin who depended on Medicaid to pay their bills — an increasingly common practice, according to industry representatives. (Rowland, 4/6)
Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Determinations Present Profit Opportunity For Contractors
States are inking big contracts with contractors promising to help remove masses of people from their Medicaid rolls for the first time in two-and-a-half years. Outsourcing regulatory and administrative work is common and can reduce the burden on government agencies. For contractors such as Maximus, Public Consulting Group and Automated Health Systems, a Medicaid redeterminations process that the Health and Human Services Department projects will disenroll 15 million beneficiaries is good business. (Tepper, 4/6)
KHN: KHN's 'What The Health?': The ‘Unwinding’ Of Medicaid
Several states have begun the herculean task of redetermining how many of an estimated 85 million Americans currently receiving health coverage through the Medicaid program are still eligible. To receive federal covid-19 relief funds, states were required to keep enrollees covered during the pandemic. As many as 15 million people could be struck from the program’s rolls — many of whom are still eligible, or are eligible for other programs and need to be steered to them. (4/6)
More on insurance coverage —
KHN: No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now In Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need To Know
When a federal judge in Texas declared unconstitutional a popular part of the Affordable Care Act that ensures no-cost preventive care for certain services, such as screening exams for conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and certain cancers, it left a lot of people with a lot of questions. On the face of it, the March 30 decision could affect ACA and job-based insurance plans nationwide and a host of medical services now free for patients. (Appleby, 4/7)
Detroit Free Press: Michigan Insurers Will Cover Preventive Screenings During ACA Appeals
Michigan insurance companies pledged Thursday to continue to fully cover preventive health services while legal challenges wend through the courts over a controversial ruling from a federal judge who struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act last week that requires no-cost preventive screenings, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration told the Free Press. (Jordan Shamus, 4/6)
KHN: Montana May Require Insurers To Cover Monitoring Devices For Diabetes
In between sets of tumbling warmups, Adrienne Prashar crossed the gym to where she had stashed her diabetes supplies and tested her blood sugar. Prashar, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes the day before her 13th birthday, said tumbling usually drops her blood sugar levels. Prashar, now 14, did a finger stick, saw her blood sugar was 127, and went back to the mat. For most people with diabetes, the target range is about 80-130, and up to 180 two hours after meals. Prashar doesn’t have to check her blood sugar often. She wears a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, that gives her blood glucose readings on her phone every five minutes. When she’s feeling differently than her CGM is showing, as on that March day at the gym, she checks her level by doing a finger stick. (Larson, 4/7)
How inflation is affecting Americans' health care —
KHN: High Inflation And Housing Costs Force Many Americans To Delay Needed Care
At a health-screening event in Sarasota, Florida, people gathered in a parking lot and waited their turn for blood pressure or diabetes checks. The event was held in Sarasota’s Newtown neighborhood, a historically Black community. Local Tracy Green, 54, joined the line outside a pink-and-white bus that offered free mammograms. “It’s a blessing because some people, like me, are not fortunate, and so this is what I needed,” she said. (Colombini, 4/7)
Military.com: A New Cash Benefit Will Expand To More Military Families This Summer, Pentagon Says
More military families could soon be eligible to apply for a new monthly cash allowance meant to alleviate food insecurity as the Pentagon plans to expand the pool of those who qualify in July, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said late last month. The Basic Needs Allowance, or BNA, began this year and is currently only for service members who have dependents and whose gross household income fell below 130% of the federal poverty level for their family size and location. To qualify, their income must have fallen below the threshold in both the previous calendar year and annualized for the current year. (Miller, 4/6)
