Insurers See Growing Risks As Well As Revenues In Medicaid Managed Care
At least 20 states are expanding their Medicaid managed-care programs in an effort to contain health spending and prepare for a huge expansion of the program beginning in 2014.
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At least 20 states are expanding their Medicaid managed-care programs in an effort to contain health spending and prepare for a huge expansion of the program beginning in 2014.
A coaltion of Massachusetts public employee unions recognized that municipal health care costs were a problem and engaged with other stakeholders in the effort to develop a solution. In the end, nobody got they wanted and that’s what a genuine compromise looks like.
These local jurisdictions, in the face of serious budget constraints, have repeatedly pushed for legal relief that would enable them to decrease the burden of public employees’ and retirees’ health benefit costs. Meanwhile, public employee unions have battled to protect what they believe their members have earned through their collective bargaining rights. In this state-policy drama, key players managed to come to a compromise that neither side loves, but both view as a solution.
Earlier this summer, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a new law reforming the way that cities and towns design health insurance plans for their employees. As local governments across the country continue to confront the harsh political and fiscal issues of spiraling employee and retiree health costs, the story of how this law came to be is worth examining.
Republican presidential candidates are often careful to not reveal during primaries how they would change health care in America, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is no exception. But examining Perry’s legislative record gives a glimpse into just what he’d change if elected.
Even as skeptics dismiss the “super committee” as a prescription for more gridlock, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is seen by many seasoned observers as a key figure in helping bridge the partisan divide and facilitate the chance for a deal.
The Republican former senator talks with KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey about the politics of deficit-cutting commissions and what it will take to tackle the ballooning federal deficit.
The SSI program for low-income disabled children is rapidly expanding, with the biggest increase among kids with mental, behavioral and learning disorders, including ADHD, speech delays, autism, and bipolar disorder, sparking criticism in Congress.
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