Mo. to drop extended benefits for unemployed, By David A. Lieb (AP), March 31, 2011, ABC News: “Thousands of people in Missouri who have been unemployed for more than a year soon will lose their jobless benefits, marking a significant victory for Republican fiscal hawks who are crusading against government spending. When eligibility ends Saturday, Missouri will become the only state to voluntarily quit a federal stimulus program that offers extended benefits. Michigan, Arkansas and Florida also recently took steps to cut back on money going to the unemployed, although they targeted state benefits instead…”
Month: March 2011
Medicaid Program – Arizona
- Arizona asking feds to OK cutting 160K from Medicaid rolls, By Mary K. Reinhart and Ginger Rough, March 31, 2011, Arizona Republic: “Gov. Jan Brewer will formally ask federal health officials today to eliminate more than 160,000 people from the Medicaid rolls under a sweeping plan that would freeze two programs for adults, eliminate coverage for catastrophic care and impose a range of fees and limits on health-care services for Arizona’s indigent. As part of the governor’s Medicaid proposal, the cornerstone of her budget-balancing plan, Brewer also wants lawmakers to restore funding for certain organ transplants, The Republic has learned. Brewer and legislators have come under withering criticism in Arizona and across the country since cutting the life-saving procedures last fall. Brewer’s plan, contained in a 16-page request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would gradually reduce enrollment in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program, rather than ending coverage abruptly for more than 250,000 people as she originally proposed…”
- AHCCCS recipients await fate of health-care program, By Mary Jo Pitzl, March 31, 2011, Arizona Republic: “Arizona’s health-care program for low-income adults has been on the bubble for months, the subject of intense debate at the state Capitol over how many people to cut from a program that Republicans and Gov. Jan Brewer say is unsustainable. While the debate rages at the Capitol, the 250,000 people who were originally targeted have watched anxiously, wondering how they will get health care if they are dropped from the state’s Medicaid program. ‘What am I going to do, go to the (emergency room) every day?’ asked John Read, a Phoenix resident who relies on the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to cover his medications for diabetes, HIV and high cholesterol. Read, 52, is one of the so-called Prop. 204 population, named after the ballot measure 11 years ago that mandated broader Medicaid coverage in Arizona. The group is wide-ranging, but there are some common traits. They are mostly adults without dependent children, more male than female, who earn less than $10,890 a year, if they have a job. About half are White, according to 2009 statistics; a quarter are Hispanic…”
Low-Income College Enrollment
Survey shows colleges failing to attract low-income students, By Bill Schackner, March 29, 2011, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “The nation’s wealthiest colleges collectively have failed since 2004 to significantly boost low-income enrollment, and more than half saw declines, including the main campuses of Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh, a survey says. The Chronicle of Higher Education findings published this week show that low-income students as defined by those receiving federal Pell Grants remained largely flat as a share of undergraduates on those campuses, at just under 15 percent. The maximum grant for this school year is $5,500. The Chronicle looked at campuses with the 50 largest endowments, a group that includes Ivy League schools, other elite private colleges and a number of flagship public universities…”