USDA urges California to reverse food stamp policy, even though some could lose benefits, By Alexandra Zavis, August 10, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging California to consider reversing a policy that prevents some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable residents from applying for food stamps, even though it could cost some current recipients their benefits. The suggestion, contained in a letter to the California Department of Social Services, has raised concern among some advocates for the poor who were hoping federal authorities would allow the state to open the food stamp program only to those recipients of cash assistance for impoverished elderly and disabled people who would not be adversely affected. ‘We really do want to make sure that we protect those households with disabled children and low-income seniors that benefit from the current policy,’ said George Manalo-LeClair, senior director of legislation for California Food Policy Advocates. The letter received Friday from the Department of Agriculture said federal law prohibits California from changing the rules for some and not all recipients of Supplemental Security Income…”
Day: August 11, 2010
State Medicaid Programs – Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia
- Medicaid cuts: Can Kentucky limit the pain?, By Deborah Yetter, August 8, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “State lawmakers trying to cut Medicaid costs might consider Morgan Drugs in Bedford, Trimble County’s only pharmacy. Owner and pharmacist Bob Yowler depends on business from Medicaid patients to help make ends meet. Many of his customers – especially elderly and low-income people who lack transportation – have no other good option for prescriptions and advice. And the store provides about a dozen jobs – not bad for a farm community with an unemployment rate of 14 percent, Yowler said. ‘It’s a Main Street business,’ he added. While pharmacy benefits are one of Medicaid’s most expensive programs, the services provided by Morgan Drugs show that the impact of the cuts will go well beyond the poor and disabled who receive benefits. And it provides a good example of the difficult decisions lawmakers face as they look for savings in the sprawling, $5.2 billion-a-year health plan…”
- Medicaid growth burning budget, By Catherine Candisky, August 8, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “The cost of Ohio’s largest safety-net program has nearly doubled in the past decade. Taxpayers spent $14.7 billion last year to provide health coverage to poor and disabled Ohioans as Medicaid – the largest and fastest growing segment of state government – now consumes about 26 percent of the state budget. ‘That is true of health care, period,’ Greg Moody, interim director of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, said of skyrocketing costs. “If you look at a person’s paycheck or a business’ bottom line that offers coverage, health care has been this constantly growing component and the same is true for state government…”
- Medicaid changes will hurt kids, dentists say, By Alison Knezevich, August 7, 2010, Charleston Gazette: “Fewer poor children in West Virginia will get dental care when the state changes the way it administers Medicaid later this year, a group representing dentists says. The West Virginia Dental Association believes the new set-up will burden dentists, resulting in more tax dollars being spent on administrative costs, rather than on services for needy kids, said the group’s director, Richard Stevens. The state Department of Health and Human Resources plans to contract with managed-care companies to administer benefits of patients enrolled in Medicaid, the state/federal health insurance program for the poor. These companies also are called health maintenance organizations…”
State Cuts to Preschool Programs
States cut preschool from budgets, Associated Press, August 8, 2010, USA Today: “States are cutting hundreds of millions from their prekindergarten budgets, undermining years of working to help young children – particularly poor kids – get ready for school. States are slashing nearly $350 million from their pre-K programs by next year and more cuts are likely on the horizon once federal stimulus money dries up, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. The reductions mean fewer slots for children, teacher layoffs and even fewer services for needy families who can’t afford high-quality private preschool programs…”