Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Wisconsin Medicaid Supporters Decry Proposal For Drug Testing As Cruel And Demeaning
The Associated Press: AP Exclusive: Records Show Scant Support For Walker’s Plan
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to drug-test Medicaid recipients and increase premiums on poor people drew five fully positive comments out of more than 1,000 submitted by the public, with one of the supportive letters coming from his own lieutenant governor, according to a review by The Associated Press. (Bauer, 6/20)
Texas Tribune: Congress Is Eyeing Big Medicaid Cuts. Here’s Why It Matters To Texas Families.
Texas, which has one of the nation’s highest rates of uninsured children — 11 percent, according to a June study by the nonpartisan Georgetown University Center for Children and Families — is especially vulnerable to Medicaid cuts of any type. Almost half of all Texas children with insurance get it through Medicaid. The study also noted that rural children in Texas have disproportionately benefited from health care reforms brought about by Obamacare. In 2009, the year before the landmark reform bill was signed into law, 18 percent of rural Texas children were uninsured. By 2015, that number had fallen to 11 percent. (Wilson, 6/21)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Senate Republicans Propose Medicaid Expansion Freeze In 2018
State Senate Republicans want to freeze Medicaid expansion enrollment after July 1, 2018, as Congress debates the future of the program under the Affordable Care Act. Before then, the state would hold a year-long open enrollment period for enrollees, who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. (Borchardt, 6/20)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Pursues Medicaid Funding For School Nurses
Georgia health officials may go after $48.6 million in federal healthcare funding for schools even as threatened Medicaid cuts in the Obamacare replacement could undermine school budgets. The Department of Community Health board will vote next month on a plan to harness Medicaid to pay for more nurses in schools. (Tagami, 6/20)
Denver Post: Colorado Budget Lawmakers Grill Medicaid Department Over Failure To Pay Doctors, Clinics, Therapists
Lawmakers demanded answers Tuesday from state Medicaid officials over the botched launch of a new computer system that has failed to pay hundreds of doctors, therapists and other health professionals for care they’ve already provided. The system, which went live March 1, has not paid an estimated $53 million in claims made by clinics, doctor’s offices, hospitals and therapists for the disabled who care for needy and disabled Coloradans. After nearly four months, the system is paying just 60 percent of claims, the rest denied or suspended because of system glitches and submission errors. (Brown, 6/20)
