- Obama administration looking to help states cut Medicaid costs, By Noam N. Levey, February 3, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Facing a brewing revolt among states wrestling with massive budget shortfalls and tattering healthcare safety nets, the Obama administration is intensifying a drive to help state leaders find ways to wring savings from their Medicaid programs. Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to the nation’s 50 governors suggesting a range of cuts they can make to Medicaid, including dropping some people from the program…”
- Fla. lawmakers could expand Medicaid privatization, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), February 2, 2011, Miami Herald: “Florida legislators seem poised to pass a bill during its coming session aimed at reducing the state’s Medicaid expenditures by expanding privatization of the program, but that may not get federal approval. The Republican Legislature wants to put more of the state’s nearly 3 million Medicaid recipients into privately managed care, expanding a 2006 pilot program implemented under former Gov. Jeb Bush that affects five counties – Broward, Duval, Baker, Clay and Nassau. Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he’d like to expand the program statewide. Scott recently talked with federal health officials about the waiver and said he hopes it’s extended without changes. Florida’s Medicaid program cost about $18 billion during the last fiscal year, with the state paying $8 billion and the federal government footing $11 billion. The cost is expected to rise to more than $20 billion during the current fiscal year…”
- As many as 182,000 to join state Medicaid, By Ry Rivard, February 1, 2011, Charleston Daily Mail: “Three years before national health care reform’s most expensive provisions take effect, West Virginia officials are struggling to guess how many residents will suddenly be insured by the government-run Medicaid program and how much the state will owe because of it. As many as 182,000 new people could enroll in the state Medicaid program, costing the state as much as $175 million a year starting in 2017, officials from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources said Monday. And as many as half of those people may already have insurance, including about 29,000 who currently pay for private insurance, according to separate estimates made by DHHR. Officials are still struggling to understand the effects of the Obama administration’s overhaul of the nation’s health care system. A tangle of administrative rules and shifting projections makes every number tentative and subject to change…”
Day: February 3, 2011
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation
California still second to last in food stamp participation, federal officials report, By Alexandra Zavis, February 2, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Just half the eligible Californians were receiving food stamps in 2008, a slight improvement over previous years but well below the national average of 66%, according to federal estimates released Wednesday. California officials dispute the way the figures are calculated and say they are outdated. “The information is based on 2008 data which is three years old, and it doesn’t reflect the impact of some of the recent program changes that were made to increase the access of needy eligible families and adults,’ said Maricela Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the California Department of Social Services. More than 3.5 million Californians received the nutrition benefit in October, the most recent month for which state figures are available. That is nearly 46% more than in October 2008. But the number of people who qualify for the benefit has also increased and it is unclear whether enrollment has kept pace with that growth…”
Child Care Subsidies – California, Colorado
- Return of child-care funds may be too late, By Barbara Anderson, February 2, 2011, Fresno Bee: “California could have a plan this week to restore child-care subsidies that help parents keep working and stay off welfare. But the fix may come too late for some Fresno County families. The subsidies, known as CalWorks Stage 3, serve California families who have moved off welfare cash aid and into the work force but whose incomes remain too low for them to afford the full cost of child care. About 55,000 children are served. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut the $256 million program in October to help the state with a gaping budget hole. A court fight delayed the cut-off, originally set for November, until Jan. 1. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed reinstating the subsidies — with cutbacks — by April. And Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, has asked the Department of Education to find money for the program until then. The program cost $30 million a month in state general funds when it was fully funded…”
- Child-care centers feel pushback from cuts, By Kevin Duggan, January 31, 2011, Loveland Connection: “Tight county and state budgets are translating to tough times for child-care facilities in Larimer County and the families that use them. In anticipation of a possible cut in state support for its Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP, the county is tightening its eligibility requirements for the program and reducing funding it will direct to child-care centers that accept the program’s clients. As of July 1, the eligibility level for the program will be changed from 185 percent of the federal poverty level to 150 percent. The move is expected to save the county about $456,000, said Laura Sartor, deputy division manager for benefits planning with the county’s Department of Human Services. But it also will mean the end of subsidized care for 80 families and 128 children. For a single mother with one child, 150 percent of the poverty level equates to $1,821 a month – or a wage of $10.50 an hour…”