Study of health-care law rebuts state protests on Medicaid costs, By Alec MacGillis, May 26, 2010, Washington Post: “The federal government will bear virtually the entire cost of expanding Medicaid under the new health-care law, according to a comprehensive new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that directly rebuts the loud protests of governors warning about its impact on their strapped state budgets. About half of the increase in health insurance coverage under the new law is expected to come from expanding Medicaid in 2014 to a new nationwide eligibility threshold of 133 percent of the poverty level — $14,400 for a single adult or $29,300 for a family of four. A disproportionate share of the 16 million people expected to enroll in the expanded Medicaid live in states in the South and West that until now have had very stringent eligibility rules for low-income adults. Governors of many of those states have predicted fiscal calamity for their budgets, and some have cited the Medicaid expansion in the suits they have filed against the new law, saying it violates their states’ rights. But the Kaiser study released Wednesday predicts that the increase in state spending will be relatively small when weighed against the broad expansion of health coverage for their residents and the huge influx of federal dollars to cover most of the cost…”
Day: May 26, 2010
Teen Birth Rate – Canada
Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate drops by 36.9 per cent, By Zosia Bielski, May 26, 2010, Globe and Mail: “Better access to contraception, higher quality sex education and shifting social norms have contributed to a 36.9 per cent decline in Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate between 1996 to 2006, according to a report released today by the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada. ‘This is a good news story,’ said Alexander McKay, lead author and research co-ordinator at the council. ‘It’s important to look at teen pregnancy rates because they’re a basic fundamental indicator of young women’s sexual and reproductive health. While not all teen pregnancies are a bad thing, when we see [rates] dropping, it’s a fairly clear indicator that young women are doing increasingly well in terms of controlling and protecting their reproductive health.’ The report, which appears in the current issue of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, compares Statistics Canada figures with numbers from three other countries. The United States experienced a 25 per cent drop while England and Wales showed a more modest decline of 4.75 per cent. Sweden’s numbers, meanwhile, jumped by 19.1 per cent…”
Food Stamp Eligibility – North Carolina, Minnesota
- State raises income standards for food stamp eligibility, By K.J. Williams, May 24, 2010, Wilmington Star-News: “North Carolinians should find it easier to get government help buying food starting July 1, when less stringent income rules take effect. The expected jump in eligible applicants could also swamp workers who process those applications, area social service directors say. The state’s federally funded Food and Nutrition Services program, commonly called food stamps, is currently available to applicants whose gross income is less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level. It will change to gross income less than 200 percent of the poverty level for applications in July. The change means the gross income limit will rise from $1,127 monthly for an individual to $1,805. For a family of four, it increases from $2,297 to $3,675…”
- Food stamps to meet more need in Minnesota, By Jean Hopfensperger, May 25, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “It’s a bustling morning at Woodbury Lutheran Church, as crowds of visitors head to the basement food shelf to pick up groceries — and to get screened for food stamps. The scene points to a new direction for the nonprofits that handed out 65 million pounds of donated groceries last year. After decades of asking the public to donate more and more food, leaders are convinced Minnesotans need a more permanent fix than monthly bags of groceries. Enter the food stamp program, ‘donated’ by the federal government and free to all who qualify. After lobbying by hunger relief organizations, the Legislature passed a law last week that expands the program to 70,000 more residents…”