Extended jobless benefits cut in eight states, By Michael A. Fletcher, May 10, 2012, Washington Post: “More than 230,000 jobless Americans will lose their unemployment insurance by this weekend as reductions in the federal program that provides extended benefits to the long-term unemployed take broader effect. The new round of reductions is hitting eight states this month, meaning that about 400,000 long-term unemployed Americans in 27 states will have been cut off of the federal government’s extended unemployment benefits program this year, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for the unemployed. The cuts stem from a congressional agreement this year that will reduce the maximum duration of unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 79 weeks as the nation’s jobless rate declines…”
Day: May 11, 2012
Medicaid Payments to Primary Care Doctors
Medicaid payments to primary care doctors will rise under new regulation, By N.C. Aizenman, May 9, 2012, Washington Post: “Primary care doctors could get a pay raise next year for treating Medicaid patients, under a rule announced by the Obama administration Wednesday. The proposed regulation implements a two-year pay increase included in the 2010 health-care law. The increase, effective in 2013 and 2014, brings primary care fees for Medicaid, which covers indigent patients, in line with those for Medicare, which insures the elderly and some disabled patients. Although Medicaid is jointly funded by states and the federal government, the pay boost would be covered entirely with federal dollars totaling more than $11 billion over the two years it would be in effect…”
Family Homelessness – Washington DC
Homelessness on the rise in D.C., Loudoun County, but steady in region, study shows, By Annie Gowen, May 9, 2012, Washington Post: “Although the overall number of homeless in the region remained virtually unchanged from last year, the number of families without homes rose for the third straight year and places such as the District and Loudoun County had significant overall increases, a yearly survey showed. The number of homeless people in the region dipped slightly – by 0.4 percent – to 11,830 this year, according to the annual ‘point-in-time’ homeless survey released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. In the District, the number of homeless families soared 18 percent and homelessness increased 6 percent overall, the report said. The District is struggling with a $7 million shortfall in services for the homeless after a loss of federal funding. The city’s family shelter is filled to capacity, and more than 100 families are living in motels along New York Avenue NE at an average cost of $100 a night…”