- Medicaid cost crisis looms for Bay State, By Michael Levenson, January 3, 2011, Boston Globe: “The money, it seems, is never enough. Governor Deval Patrick approved a record $9.6 billion last July for the state’s health insurance program for the poor – sufficient, he assumed, to last a year. But the program’s costs quickly outpaced expectations, forcing the governor to approve an additional $329 million in October and then seek $258 million more, which lawmakers approved last week. And even that may not last, with six months remaining in the budget year. The ballooning cost of Medicaid is one of the biggest challenges facing Massachusetts and other states, which have seen demand for the program jump during the recession as increasing numbers of unemployed residents enroll in the subsidized insurance plan…”
- TennCare funding problem persists despite overhaul, By Anita Wadhwani, January 3, 2011, The Tennessean: “Eight years ago, Phil Bredesen successfully campaigned on his pledge to fix TennCare or end it. Since then, the governor has steered the state’s public health-care program through the most turbulent changes of any of the 50 state Medicaid programs, drastically cutting enrollment, limiting benefits and reining in spending. Rising health-care costs and new federal policy mean the Bredesen administration’s eight-year effort to bring the TennCare budget under control has only bought Tennessee time. Nationally, advocates opposing an expanded government role in health care credit Bredesen for making hard decisions to cut more than 350,000 people from TennCare’s rolls, staving off a state budget crisis. Critics say the human impact of the cuts has been deep, with new data showing many pushed off the TennCare rolls remain uninsured…”
Day: January 3, 2011
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Ohio
More qualify for food aid, but few make it last, By Jessica Alaimo, January 3, 2011, Newark Advocate: “A couple of kids were trying to entertain themselves in a dull food pantry waiting room, but the adults among them were quiet. However, there was a sense of community as each person was called to walk through the four long walls of wire shelves chock full of cereal, canned goods and personal care items. There also was a refrigerator full of milk and cheese and three freezers full of meat. It was the end of the month. Christy Dilley, 26, and Natasha Blankenship, 27, both young mothers in Lancaster, were there for the same reason — their government food assistance didn’t stretch far enough. This was common for many in the room. In November, more than 1.7 million Ohioans spent $241.1 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds, commonly known as food stamps, which are funded by the federal government. Almost three-fourths of that amount was spent in the first half of the month, and 30 percent was spent in the first five days…”
Foster Care Reimbursement Rates – Missouri
Foster care reimbursement rates in Missouri among lowest in US, By Carla Jimenez, January 1, 2011, Columbia Missourian: “Karen Anderson has been a foster parent for 31 years. ‘It goes back so far that I don’t even really remember now,’ she said. ‘But I wanted to make a difference for children.’ Anderson has been a foster parent for so long that she hasn’t even kept track of how many children she’s taken in over the years. She estimates, though, that the number is around 180. Anderson, 55, has seen a lot change in her tenure as a level B, formerly known as a ‘career-level,’ foster parent. One thing that has been consistent over her three decades of foster parenting is the low compensation she gets from the state…”