Debit cards reward Medicaid patients for care, By Tom Murphy (AP), August 31, 2009, Washington Post: “Some Indiana Medicaid patients can now earn money to spend on health care simply by visiting the doctor or seeking routine preventive care. Managed Health Services on Monday announced a new debit card program that rewards patients for making regular trips to the doctor, taking their babies in for checkups and getting screened for several conditions. Participants can earn between $10 and $20 on their cards for each visit or screening. They can then use the funds to buy health-related items like cough syrup or thermometers…”
Month: August 2009
Food Stamp Program and Nutrition – Tennessee
Tennessee food stamps, waistlines expand, By Christina E. Sanchez, August 30, 2009, The Tennessean: “More Tennesseans are receiving food stamps than ever before – nearly one in six – and the numbers are only expected to increase. But as the food stamp program expands, so too may the waistlines of the people who use the benefit to put food on the table, according to a recent study. Researchers at Ohio State University found that people who used food stamps were more likely to be obese. Women on average were about 6 pounds heavier than women who did not get food aid. They tracked 10,000 people, both on and not on food stamps, over 14 years and found that poverty, lack of access to healthy foods, and nutritional education of people on food stamps contributed to the obesity rates…”
State Unemployment Insurance System – Michigan
Jobless claims overwhelm state workers, By Mark Hornbeck, August 31, 2009, Detroit News: “While most state workers are about to take their last unpaid furlough day, Unemployment Insurance Agency employees are racking up overtime. The 800 employees, including call center and problem resolution staff, recently received a memo saying they’ll have to put in 140 more hours of overtime before the end of the year to keep up with the crush of applications from Michigan’s legions of jobless. They’ll have to work seven Saturdays or holidays and then another 80-plus hours of overtime during regular workdays. The overtime will cost $3.4 million, about $4,300 per employee, a tab picked up by the federal government. Michigan has an unprecedented 450,000 residents receiving unemployment compensation and ‘hundreds of thousands’ waiting to get benefits, said Norm Isotalo, spokesman for the Unemployment Insurance Agency. The state’s 15 percent jobless rate is the highest in the nation…”