Medicaid easy to cut in theory, not reality, By Catherine Candisky, November 14, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “The state budget crisis has put a target on the backs of 2million Ohioans on Medicaid – children and pregnant women, the disabled and elderly – but scaling back the tax-funded health-care program comes with its own price tag. For every dollar Ohio cuts in Medicaid spending, it loses $2 in federal matching funds. The human toll also could be staggering. Ohio’s Medicaid program pays for: • 1 in 3 births. • Half the patients treated at Ohio’s six children’s hospitals. • 70 percent of nursing-home care. The state’s Medicaid spending has reached $15.4 billion a year. That money provides care to the poor and disabled and pays doctors, nurses, home health aides and other service providers. According to state officials, Medicaid now makes up more than 3percent of the state’s economy. But most agree the tab – $29,000 per minute – is one Ohio taxpayers can no longer afford…”
Is Texas really thinking of opting out of Medicaid?, By Corrie MacLaggan, November 13, 2010, Austin American-Statesman: “It’s been the buzz this past week in certain corners of the Texas Capitol: Is the Lone Star State really considering dropping out of the Medicaid program? GOP Gov. Rick Perry, fresh off a big re-election win and touting his new book on states’ rights, is among those who say it’s a good idea. The election results – which included a huge haul of state House seats for Republicans – have left some Capitol watchers wondering whether they should take seriously an idea that might have been immediately discarded in the past. Never mind that no state has ever ditched Medicaid. Or that the federal government typically kicks in about 6 of every 10 dollars spent on the health care program in Texas. Medicaid pays for more than half of all births and chips in for the care of nearly two-thirds of all nursing home residents in the state. And top medical industry officials say opting out of Medicaid would cripple the state’s health care system and hurt the economy…”
End of jobless benefits is political plight, By Janet Hook and Sara Murray, November 15, 2010, Wall Street Journal: “Jobless benefits for two million unemployed Americans will begin to expire in two weeks, an issue Congress is ill-prepared to tackle during a packed lame-duck session that is shadowed by growing voter antipathy toward government spending. With the aid for the long-term unemployed due to lapse Nov. 30, Democrats are under heavy pressure to extend the program during the lame duck session because its prospects will likely dim after Republicans gain control of the House in January. The program, which provides aid for up to 99 weeks after workers are laid off, has been extended seven times during the current economic downturn. Democrats are hoping its critics will be loath to allow the benefits to lapse during the holiday season, with the unemployment rate still exceeding 9%. But the last time Congress extended the program, the summertime battle was so pitched that extended benefits lapsed for more than a month as Republicans opposed another extension on the grounds that it would add to the deficit-a concern that has only grown more prominent during and after the midterm elections…”
Congress’ to-do list includes unemployment help, By Audie Cornish, November 15, 2010, National Public Radio: “Lawmakers have a long list of items to take up in their lame-duck session, and one of the things they could tackle is a federal program extending unemployment benefits for millions of laid-off workers. The money runs out at the end of November. If lawmakers don’t extend those unemployment benefits, millions of people will lose their checks over the next few months. The program funds jobless benefits beyond the 26 weeks that states normally provide. In states with the highest unemployment rates, workers are eligible for more than a year and a half of benefits…”
Jobless benefits set to end yet again, By Catherine Candisky, November 14, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “Nearly 40 percent of Ohioans receiving jobless benefits will exhaust their unemployment by the end of December unless Congress agrees to continue funding extended benefits. According to state officials, 115,679 Ohioans will lose their benefits within a month if the program expires Nov. 30. By the end of April 2011, nearly all of the 291,998 receiving aid will fall off the rolls, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Congressional Democrats, who will be in the minority in the House and have a diminished majority in the Senate, are considering a three- or six-month extension when lawmakers return to Washington this week for a brief lame-duck session. While some Democrats say they would like to pass a one-year extension, it’s doubtful there will be the votes to accomplish that…”
