As seniors climb from poverty, young fall in, By Marisol Bello, February 16, 2012, USA Today: “Living in rural North Carolina, Linda Sue Jones doesn’t see her teenage son as the archetype of a national trend. But 15-year-old Josh, as a boy who lives in the South in a household headed by a single woman, is characteristic of the exploding numbers of children in the USA living in poverty – numbers exacerbated by the recession that has pushed many families into poverty for the first time. Twenty miles away, Kenneth Moody, 70, and his wife, Margie, 65, say they, too, are struggling, especially because of high out-of-pocket medical bills. They stay off the poverty rolls because of the $2,000 they receive from Social Security every month. They pay more than $300 a month for prescription drugs but say their medical costs would be even higher if they didn’t have Medicare. ‘It’s life,’ says Margie Moody. ‘That pays our bills, buys our food, pays for the doctor.’ The two families highlight a national trend over the past three decades as child poverty steadily rises and poverty among seniors, aided by social programs, steadily drops…”
Day: February 16, 2012
State Medicaid Programs – Arizona, Minnesota
- Arizona Supreme Court allows cuts to AHCCCS to stand, By Mary K. Reinhart, February 15, 2012, Arizona Republic: “The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review an appeal challenging cuts to the state’s Medicaid program, letting stand an enrollment freeze that has locked thousands of poor residents out of government-paid health insurance. An estimated 100,000 childless adults will lose Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System coverage this fiscal year. The state has turned away an untold number since a lower-court judge allowed the cap to take effect in July. The high court’s decision effectively ends the case, which centers on a 2000 voter- approved measure that expanded the AHCCCS population. However, it lets stand an Appeals Court ruling that effectively said the budget cuts violated the measure, Proposition 204, but the court couldn’t force the Legislature to obey the law. The court decisions raise questions about how much room legislators have to interpret ballot measures…”
- Feds look into Minnesota’s premium rates for poor, By Jackie Crosby, February 14, 2012, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “The federal government has launched an investigation into whether Minnesota has set premium rates too high on health insurance coverage for low-income people, officials said Tuesday. The probe came to light at a state House committee hearing, at which one critic of the state’s nonprofit plans said they earn more on the state plans for Medical Assistance than they have on commercial plans, even as doctors and hospitals collect less reimbursement. But even as lawmakers pushed for answers during a sweeping four-hour session, few details were forthcoming…”
Child Welfare Reform – Colorado
Child welfare reform: Colorado unveils plan to better protect children, By Christopher N. Osher, February 16, 2012, Denver Post: “Colorado will overhaul how it trains child abuse caseworkers, make more information public when a child dies of abuse or neglect and will start holding counties accountable for how they deal with reports of child abuse, state officials said today. Reforms unveiled by Gov. John Hickenlooper and Reggie Bicha, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services, are aimed at improving a child welfare system that has seen 43 children die in the past five years amid concerns that caseworkers did not do enough to save them. ‘Every decision we make in formulating and implementing this plan has the safety and well-being of children and their families at the forefront,’ Hickenlooper said in a prepared statement. The plan, which took a year to develop, has five key strategies. The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Case Family Program helped the state come up with the program and has contributed more than $600,000 toward developing and implementing the proposal…”