Feeling budget pinch, states cut insurance, By Kevin Sack, March 1, 2011, New York Times: “Ken Kewley woke up Tuesday without health insurance for the first time in nearly nine years. So did most of the 41,467 other Pennsylvanians who had been covered by adultBasic, a state-subsidized insurance program for the working poor that Gov. Tom Corbett shut down on Monday in one of the largest disenrollments in recent memory. Mr. Corbett, a Republican elected in November, has said the program he inherited is not sustainable with Pennsylvania facing a $4 billion budget shortfall. He blames his predecessor, Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat, for not keeping the plan solvent. His administration notified beneficiaries in late January that their coverage would expire Feb. 28…”
Medicaid funding busts state budgets, By Tami Luhby, February 28, 2011, CNNMoney.com: “The Obama administration is giving states more flexibility in implementing the health care reform law, but that won’t help governors plug one of their biggest immediate budget problems: Runaway Medicaid costs. Several dozen governors are pleading with the president to let them drop enrollees in their costly Medicaid programs. They say this flexibility is critical in closing an estimated $125 billion budget gap for fiscal 2012, which starts July 1 in most states. Medicaid rolls have ballooned because of the distressed economy. Enrollment has surged to nearly 62 million people, or one in five Americans, according to the government. And it’s projected to expand another 6.1% during the current fiscal year…”
Republicans shift focus to Medicaid complaints, By N.C. Aizenman, March 1, 2011, Washington Post: “A day after President Obama said he would support amending the health-care law so states can opt out of key provisions sooner, Republicans sought to shift the rhetorical battle back to an issue that would be largely unaffected by the president’s proposal: the impact of the law’s Medicaid requirements on state budgets. Testifying at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, two Republican governors returned to themes that had dominated the discussion at the National Governors Association’s semiannual meeting over the weekend. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert complained that by prohibiting states from limiting who is eligible for Medicaid, the law has locked them into unsustainable spending at a time of fiscal crisis…”
Governors seek help on Medicaid costs, By Robert Pear, March 1, 2011, New York Times: “Governors told Congress on Tuesday that President Obama had not gone far enough in proposing to let states opt out of major provisions of the new health care law in 2014, and they said they needed more immediate relief from the growing financial burden of Medicaid. ‘It sounds good, but it provides very, very little actual help,’ Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, said of Mr. Obama’s proposal. The most important provisions of the federal law, including a big expansion of Medicaid eligibility and a requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, take effect in 2014. The federal government will initially pay the entire cost of coverage for the people who are newly eligible for Medicaid, but after several years, states will be required to pay some of the cost. Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, a Republican, said Medicaid had been a large and growing part of his state’s budget even before the federal law was passed…”
Budget would make benefits cuts to Medicaid, W-2, Wisconsin Shares, By Steve Schultze and Rick Romell, March 1, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “About 55,000 people could lose their health insurance under the state’s BadgerCare program, under Gov. Scott Walker’s budget plan released Tuesday. Walker’s budget also would shrink aid to Wisconsin Works participants and could mean reduced state child care subsidies to low-income families. In an effort to slow the growth in spending on Medicaid, Walker says he will seek permission from the federal government to tighten eligibility standards and would cut off people faster who are found no longer eligible. If the federal government does not give the state permission to toughen its standards in determining who gets Medicaid, the state would eliminate coverage to families that earn more than 133% of the federal poverty level on July 1, 2012. That threshold currently is $24,352 a year for a family of three. Wisconsin is among states providing health insurance to adults with children under 19 and household income up to 200% of the poverty line, or $36,620 for a family of three…”
Advocacy groups decry proposed Medicaid changes, By Guy Boulton, March 1, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Advocacy groups ranging from Disability Rights Wisconsin to Mental Health America of Wisconsin to AARP Wisconsin are opposing Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to give his administration the freedom to revamp BadgerCare Plus and other Medicaid programs with minimal oversight from the Legislature. The provision in Walker’s budget-repair bill would allow the secretary of the Department of Health Services to make sweeping changes in the program with approval from just the Joint Finance Committee instead of the full Legislature. ‘This provision is going to radically change the way decisions are made about Medicaid,’ said Barbara Beckert, the Milwaukee office director for Disability Rights Wisconsin. The Walker administration hasn’t indicated what changes it is considering for the programs, which provide health care for roughly 1 million state residents…”
