Wave of Medicaid cuts to begin, By Lynn Bonner, August 28, 2011, News and Observer: “New cuts to health services for the poor take hold in October, with the elimination of eye exams and glasses for adults on Medicaid. Medicaid recipients are receiving notices about reductions, eliminations or other changes to an array of health services in the next few months. The $354 million Medicaid cut in the state budget includes limits and other changes to services totaling $16.5 million. In addition to getting rid of routine adult eye care and glasses, the state plans to limit payments for deep cleaning dental treatments for people who have gum disease to once every two years from once a year. Outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for adults will be limited to three visits a year…”
Month: August 2011
Unemployment Insurance Fund – Indiana
Jobless benefits fix costing Ind. businesses more, Associated Press, August 28, 2011, Lafayette Journal and Courier: “Indiana businesses have paid about 44 percent more in employer taxes this year under a legislative effort to fix the state’s bankrupt unemployment insurance fund. The Journal Gazette reported that so far this year businesses have paid $741.6 million to the state’s unemployment trust fund. That’s up about 44 percent from last year, when the total collected from Indiana companies was $514 million. Those businesses also face the added burden of federal penalties because Indiana still owes the federal government about $1.8 billion it borrowed to continue making payments to the unemployed. Businesses pay taxes into an unemployment insurance trust fund that pays jobless benefits to Indiana residents who lose their jobs. However, Indiana has been paying out more in benefits than it received from taxes since 2000. That eroded the trust fund surplus well before the recession hit…”
Medicaid and Managed Care
Medicaid managed care is a growing but risky business, By Christopher Weaver, August 26, 2011, Washington Post: “Sanjuanita Espinoza, 55, doesn’t seem like a gold mine for private insurers. She’s disabled, has high blood pressure and has no family to help with her care. Yet, to some Texas insurers, she is an opportunity. In August, the state picked five health plans in South Texas to oversee care for people such as Espinoza who are enrolled in Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor. This scenario is playing out across the country as states increasingly turn to private insurers to rein in the cost of Medicaid. But Medicaid managed care is a risky business. Many new enrollees are older and sicker than the people health plans typically cover. The political environment is fierce, and insurers face resistance from physicians, hospitals and perhaps patients…”