How Wisconsin made big Medicaid cuts with little controversy, By Jake Grovum, August 5, 2010, Stateline.org: “As Wisconsin lawmakers looked ahead to their two-year state budget early last year, the outlook was grim. As the economy continued its freefall, a projected $5.7 billion deficit ballooned to $6.6 billion, the largest in state history. Every state program was on the chopping block, but Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people, was an especially big target because it makes up one-fifth of the state’s budget. Governor Jim Doyle’s initial budget prescription called for more than $400 million in cuts to Medicaid. By June, when the Legislature approved the budget, the reduction was up to $625 million – about 10 percent of Wisconsin’s total cost for the joint state-federal program. But for Wisconsin, passing a budget with such drastic cuts to Medicaid was just the beginning for state health officials, advocates and the state’s 30,000 health care providers. Doyle and the Legislature devised a novel approach: They gave agency officials a dollar amount to cut, but ceded authority over how to reach that figure. They didn’t even require final legislative or gubernatorial approval to enact the changes…”
Day: August 6, 2010
Child Fitness Tax Credit – Canada
Child fitness tax credit little used by poor families, study finds, By Karen Kleiss, August 4, 2010, Vancouver Sun: “Canada’s fitness tax credit does little to encourage physical activity among kids from low-income families who can’t afford to pay registration fees, a new study says. The University of Alberta research found that middle-class and wealthy families benefit most from the $500 tax credit, and are twice as likely to claim the credit as are low-income families. Study author John Spence said low-income families simply can’t afford to pay registration fees in the first place, so they can’t take advantage of the tax credit down the line…”
July 2010 US Unemployment Rate
- Unemployment report portrays stagnant job market, By Don Lee, August 6, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The employment picture in the U.S. remained bleak last month as the nation’s payrolls fell for a second straight month, with private-sector businesses adding a disappointingly scant number of new jobs. The jobless rate held steady at 9.5% in July, the government said Friday. The Labor Department said that private employers added just 71,000 new net jobs in July. Meanwhile, the federal government laid off 143,000 temporary census workers, and with budget-strapped local governments also cutting back, the total number of American jobs last month fell by 131,000 from June. What’s more, Labor statisticians revised down the job figures for June, saying that total payroll jobs fell by 221,000 that month instead of 125,000 previously estimated…”
- Jobs report shows private sector still wary of hiring, By Motoko Rich, August 6, 2010, New York Times: “With the departure of thousands of workers from temporary Census jobs and thousands more let go by cash-strapped state and local governments, American businesses were unable to rescue the American recovery. Over all, the nation lost 131,000 jobs in July, according to the Department of Labor’s monthly statistical snapshot of hiring, down from a revised number in June. Private employers added 71,000 jobs last month, easily overtaken by the 143,000 cut as the Census winds down, and about half the number that economists say is needed to simply accommodate population growth. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent…”