- State’s poor pose intricate challenge, By Kevin Yamamura, February 14, 2011, Sacramento Bee: “As Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed slashing government aid for poor people, he argues that California still provides more generous benefits than many other states. His budget, chock full of comparisons, notes that ‘Texas and Illinois have a hard limit of three prescriptions per month” and “South Dakota charges 5 percent of costs up to $50 for emergency room visits.’ It’s all relative, he says. ‘If you compare (the safety net) to other states, we’re still doing reasonably well,’ Brown said last month when he released his budget. ‘If you compare us to some European states, we’re not doing so well at all. So it depends upon what your yardstick is.’ A Sacramento Bee review of several national yardsticks found that while California has a high share of people receiving low-income aid, the benefits they receive are not necessarily more generous than those provided in other states…”
- Lawsuit seen as likely if Medicaid is cut, By Nolan Hicks, February 13, 2011, San Antonio Express-News: “If proposed cutbacks to Medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors and dentists are enacted by the Legislature, the state risks another lawsuit over the level of health care Texas provides to poor children, health and human services officials warn. The cuts, which were suggested in the Texas House’s initial budget proposal, would reduce the rate Medicaid pays doctors and dentists by at least 10 percent. Slashing spending on social programs such as Medicaid is an important element of Republican efforts to balance the budget without increasing taxes…”
Day: February 15, 2011
Colorado Benefits Management System
Federal audit targets delays, errors in Colorado’s benefits computer system, By Michael Booth, February 13, 2011, Denver Post: “Persistent delays and errors in the state computer system for Medicaid and food stamps have prompted federal officials to launch an ongoing performance review of Colorado’s multibillion-dollar benefit programs. The long-troubled Colorado Benefits Management System continued to malfunction after the federal review got underway last summer, with lockouts and slowdowns plaguing managers through at least December, documents obtained by The Denver Post show. Repeated internal complaints about system crashes also have raised questions about a $44 million contract with Deloitte consultants to overhaul a network that has proved problematic since its installation in 2004 at a cost of $223 million. Disclosure of the new federal audit, after an open-records request, comes as legal-aid attorneys continue their pursuit of court sanctions against the state Health Care Policy and Financing Department for delays in processing benefit records. Those delays have exceeded 70 percent of cases in some months…”
Unemployment Insurance – Florida
Proposals put squeeze on Florida’s jobless, By Jeff Ostrowski, February 13, 2011, Palm Beach Post: “Mark Wampole figures his weekly unemployment checks are the only thing saving him from homelessness, and he grows frustrated when he hears of proposals by state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott to tighten eligibility for unemployment compensation. ‘Without it, I’d starve,’ said Wampole, a laid-off welder who lives in Palm Beach County. ‘I’d have to live under a bridge and hope I could find somebody to feed me. It’s that serious.’ Job seekers surviving on unemployment benefits that top out at $275 a week aren’t the only ones facing a financial squeeze. Business groups and Republican lawmakers point to dire finances for the state’s unemployment system, which has been sapped by an economic downturn that left more than 1 million Floridians seeking work. Unemployment benefits are paid through an insurance system that gets little attention in good times. Employers pay a small premium every year, and workers who are laid off collect benefits…”