Report: Poor pay higher state tax share, By Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, April 14, 2010, San Bernadino County Sun: “California’s poorest residents cough up a higher share of their income to fund the state services than those in the highest income bracket. And as tardy taxpayers face today’s deadline for submitting state and federal income tax forms, the poor have also run headlong into California’s economic problems. ‘It’s a good-news, bad-news situation,’ said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, whose report released this week outlined the inequities of taxation in California. ‘In the name of helping the economy, the federal government has lowered taxes to targeted groups, such as families with children. State had to balance its budget so it increased the taxes. It can’t ‘deficit-spend’ like the feds.’ The state’s decision to increase tax liability has especially hit hardest at the poorest 20 percent of California families…”
Day: April 16, 2010
Medicaid Drug Plan – Ohio
State, patients, doctors like new Medicaid drug plan, By Catherine Candisky, April 14, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “When the state took back control of Medicaid’s prescription-drug program last year, there was a lot of talk about how the move would save millions. It has. But it’s also making it easier for patients to get the medications they need. An analysis by the Ohio Coalition for Patient Rights found that Medicaid patients have improved access to ‘quality and appropriate’ treatments and medications…”
Medicaid Reform – Florida
- Florida Medicaid overhaul heads to the House floor, By Bill Kaczor (AP), April 15, 2010, Miami Herald: “The Florida House set the stage Thursday for a vote next week on a massive overhaul of Florida’s Medicaid system, adopting a series of amendments with relatively little disagreement or partisan wrangling. The House began floor action on a pair of bills (HB 7223, HB 7225) that would put most Medicaid recipients in all 67 counties into privately operated managed care plans over the next five years, a move aimed at cutting rapidly rising costs and curtailing fraud…”
- House bill would turn Medicaid into managed care, By Gary Pinnell, April 16, 2010, Highlands Today: “Two bills approved Monday by the House Policy Council on Strategic and Economic Planning could privatize Medicare in every Florida county, saving Florida billions of dollars. HB 7223, co-written by Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid, would change from a fee-for-care system, in which more than 2.7 million patients are treated by a caregiver who bills the state. Moreover, Florida’s Medicaid could enroll more than a million new participants under the new federal health care bill. The new PSN will use a combination of federal and state taxpayer funds to provide free health care for the eligible population…”