Passport costs more than regular Medicaid, official says, By Tom Loftus, February 17, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Passport Health Plan, often praised for its efficiency as Kentucky’s only Medicaid managed care venture, costs the state far more per person than the state’s regular Medicaid program, a key state official contends. The assertion was made in a five-page letter sent Tuesday by state Medicaid Commissioner Elizabeth Johnson – and strongly disputed by Passport officials – to the staff of the House budget committee. The panel is considering an expansion of the Passport approach as one of many ways to save money to help plug a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall in the 2010-12 state budget. Passport – a consortium of hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers – was created in 1997 to apply the efficiencies of managed care to limit the soaring costs of the Medicaid program in a region that includes Jefferson and 15 surrounding counties. Managed care aims to achieve savings by keeping clients within a network of providers…”
Medicaid revamp faces obstacles in Tallahassee, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), February 17, 2010, Miami Herald: “With Medicaid costs now consuming 26 percent of the state budget, the upcoming session seems primed for a program overhaul. But legislators will tackle the issue amid a foundering pilot program, a class-action Medicaid lawsuit that could cost the state millions, all while waiting to see if and how a federal health bill will affect the state. Reining in the program for low-income and disabled patients has been discussed, with little change, for years. But with Florida’s sour economy driving Medicaid enrollment to an all-time high, lawmakers say they have no choice this session. The state expects to pay $17.9 billion to serve 2.6 million recipients – one out of every seven residents – and an 11 percent increase from last year…”
Judging stimulus by job data reveals success, By David Leonhardt, February 16, 2010, New York Times: “Imagine if, one year ago, Congress had passed a stimulus bill that really worked. Let’s say this bill had started spending money within a matter of weeks and had rapidly helped the economy. Let’s also imagine it was large enough to have had a huge impact on jobs – employing something like two million people who would otherwise be unemployed right now. If that had happened, what would the economy look like today? Well, it would look almost exactly as it does now. Because those nice descriptions of the stimulus that I just gave aren’t hypothetical. They are descriptions of the actual bill. Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative…”
Independent analysis says federal stimulus brought $2 billion to Wisconsin, By Matthew DeFour, February 17, 2010, Wisconsin State Journal: “In the last year, the federal Recovery Act has infused $2 billion – or about $369 per person – into the pockets of Wisconsin citizens, including $155 million in Dane County, according to an analysis by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, a independent nonprofit advocacy group. UW-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky said the $800 billion stimulus may not have created jobs as swiftly as expected, but it has helped buoy the economy, as well as state and local budgets…”
Was stimulus good for Ohio?, By Mark Niquette and Doug Caruso, February 17, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “One year after Congress passed what was intended to be a $787 billion jolt to a reeling economy, at least $2.8 billion has been spent in Ohio so far to preserve jobs and state services, build roads and accomplish a wide range of other purposes. But as Congress considers a second jobs bill, debate still rages about what this stimulus package is accomplishing. Critics question how the money is being spent at a time of growing federal deficits. They also point out that unemployment has gotten worse since the bill was passed one year ago today. According to federal statistics, Ohio has lost a net 107,800 jobs since last February, and the state’s jobless rate rose from 9.5 percent to 10.9 percent during that time…”
Study reveals a steep rise in German poverty levels, By Andreas Illmer, February 17, 2010, Deutsche Welle: “One in seven people is now defined as living on or below the poverty line, according to a report. Families with children and young people were particularly likely to struggle for money, researchers found. The proportion of people defined as being ‘at risk of poverty’ in Germany has risen significantly over the course of a decade. Some 11.5 million Germans, 14 percent of the population, fell into that category in 2008 – about a third more than ten years earlier. Children and young people are particularly hard-hit, according to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) released on Wednesday…”
Number of Germans living in poverty surges, February 17, 2010, The Local: “The ranks of the poor in Germany have swelled over the past decade, as a study released on Wednesday showed more than 11 million people living in poverty. According to the alarming figures published by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the number of people below the poverty line – 14 percent of the total population – expanded by a third in the last ten years. The study analysed income data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which operates under the DIW. It found that young people between the ages of 19 and 25 and families were at particular risk…”
