Counting on Medicaid money, states face shortfalls, Kevin Sack, June 7, 2010, New York Times: “Having counted on Washington for money that may not be delivered, at least 30 states will have to close larger-than-anticipated shortfalls in the coming fiscal year unless Congress passes a six-month extension of increased federal spending on Medicaid. Governors and state lawmakers, already facing some of the toughest budgets since the Great Depression, said the repercussions would extend far beyond health care, forcing them to make bone-deep cuts to education, social services and public safety. Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, for instance, penciled $850 million in federal Medicaid assistance into the revenue side of his state’s ledger, reducing its projected shortfall to $1.2 billion. The only way to compensate for the loss, he said in an interview, would be to lay off at least 20,000 government workers – including teachers and police officers – at a time when the state is starting to add jobs…”
Day: June 7, 2010
Long-Term Unemployment
- Without COBRA subsidy, health care would require 79% of jobless benefits, By Deb Price, June 6, 2010, Detroit News: “Newly laid-off workers in Michigan face average monthly COBRA health care premiums of $1,019, which would gobble up more than three-quarters of their jobless benefits, according to a report released today by an advocacy group urging Congress to help. ‘The elimination of COBRA subsidies means that people losing their jobs will also lose their health care coverage,’ said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. ‘Such a loss of health coverage flies in the face of the recently enacted health reform legislation that is intended to expand health coverage to tens of millions of people.’ The House passed a slimmed-down $102 billion jobs bill May 28 that dropped a proposal to extend eligibility for the federal COBRA subsidy through the end of the year. The result is workers who lost their jobs before June 1 get the COBRA health care subsidy — a 65 percent subsidy of health care premiums for up to 15 months. But those laid off after June 1 aren’t eligible…”
- Long-term jobless facing longer odds in job market, By Jeannine Aversa (AP), June 6, 2010, Wilmington News Journal: “If you lose your job these days, it’s worth scrambling to find a new one — fast. After six months of unemployment, your chances of landing work dwindle. The proportion of people jobless for six months or more has accelerated in the past year and now makes up 46 percent of the unemployed. That’s the highest percentage on records dating to 1948. By late summer or early fall, they are expected to make up half of all jobless Americans. Economists say those out of work for six months or more risk becoming less and less employable. Their skills can erode, their confidence falter, their contacts dry up. Their growing ranks also will keep pressure on Congress to keep extending jobless benefits, which now run for up to 99 weeks. Overall, the economy has created a net 982,000 jobs this year. But for Jeff Martinez and the record 6.76 million others who have struck out for six months or more, their struggles are getting worse, not better…”
States and Foster Care Populations
Reforms help states cut foster-care populations, By David Crary (AP), June 5, 2010, Washington Post: “No single youngster can be the poster child for America’s foster care system, with its mix of happy endings and heartache. Yet Tatiana Fowler’s smile, as she embraces the woman who adopted her, gives a hint at the groundswell of change that is altering that mix for the better. Tatiana, 16, and her 15-year-old sister Brittany were adopted earlier this year by a cousin of their mother after four years in foster care. They became part of a dramatic trend in New York City, which has reduced its foster care population from nearly 28,000 in 2002 to under 16,000 this spring. Thanks to sizable reductions in several other states, it’s a coast-to-coast phenomenon – the latest federal data, from 2008, recorded 463,000 children in foster care nationally, down more than 11 percent from 523,000 in 2002…”