Fighting poverty remains tall task, By Erin Rhoda, February 12, 2012, Kennebec Journal: “Scott Labbe, 63, is a retired, former business owner who has lived in Madison for 40 years. When he first moved to town, there were four appliance stores, three stores selling televisions and four furniture stores, he said. One of those stores, Scott’s Appliance, was his. People in Somerset County were not wealthy — he recalled once trading a washer for half a slaughtered cow — but they made a living. Now, he questions how people in Madison and Somerset County make ends meet, considering the shortage of good jobs in comparison to housing payments, food costs, fuel for the car and the expenses that come with raising children. Labbe is on the mark — a recent report says nearly one in five people in Somerset live in poverty. Of the county’s 52,200 residents, 9,700 people, or 18.6 percent, live below the poverty line…”
Day: February 13, 2012
State Medicaid Programs – New Hampshire, Florida, Kentucky
- Medicaid overhaul leaves questions, By Benjamin Yelle, February 13, 2012, Keene Sentinel: “A plan to change the way Medicaid services are delivered in New Hampshire has service providers and family members searching for answers – and time is running out. Gov. John H. Lynch and the N.H. Executive Council are scheduled to act in March on contracts for so-called ‘managed care’ of Medicaid clients. Medicaid is a federal program that provides medical and social services to low-income Americans. It has two components: acute care, which is similar to health insurance, and covers things like doctor’s visits, and long-term or chronic care, which covers permanent developmental disabilities, acquired brain injuries and other serious or recurring ailments. In the Monadnock Region about 1,000 people receive such services. The state Legislature voted in 2011 to send Medicaid services out to bid to private, for-profit companies to take over administration from the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services…”
- Feds deny part of Fla. Medicaid proposal, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), February 11, 2012, Miami Herald: “Republican lawmakers’ quest to expand a Medicaid privatization program statewide was dealt a blow this week after federal health officials said the state could not impose $10 monthly premiums on Medicaid beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also denied the state’s proposal to charge $100 co-pays for any non-emergency ER visits, according to a letter sent Thursday. Federal health officials said the fees violated several statutes designed to protect nearly 3 million of state’s most vulnerable…”
- Medicaid managed care companies defend their efforts in Kentucky, By John Cheves, February 13, 2012, Lexington Herald-Leader: “Three companies hired last year to manage most of the state’s Medicaid program on Monday defended their efforts thus far and said they’re working to resolve problems. Lawmakers on the Program Review and Investigations Committee quizzed executives with Coventry Cares, Kentucky Spirit and WellCare of Kentucky, which manage Medicaid outside of the Louisville area under a cost-cutting plan implemented in November by Gov. Steve Beshear…”