- New report: State Medicaid program pays $50M annually on care for ineligible patients, By Howard Fischer, June 8, 2012, East Valley Tribune: “Arizona’s Medicaid program is paying out up to an extra $50 million a year to provide care for those who are ineligible, a new report says. The study done by the state Auditor General’s Office finds a 1.1 percent error rate in cases where people were determined to qualify for the free care. Auditor General Debbie Davenport acknowledged that appears to be half of what federal officials found for Arizona in 2008, the last time the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did its own report on the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. That same year, Davenport said, the average error rate of the 17 states studied was 6.7 percent. But Davenport said Arizona’s 1.1 percent rate still translates to real money…”
- Medicaid fraud busters learn from experience, By Christine Vestal, June 4, 2012, Stateline: “Texas had an unusually high Medicaid orthodontics bill in 2010. At $185 million, the state was reportedly spending more than the other 49 states combined. Claims data showed that it had led the nation for three consecutive years in total dollars spent to help children with crooked teeth. Or at least that’s what state and federal regulators thought. As it turns out, Texas did not have a higher percentage of children with orthodontic needs. Nor was the Medicaid program doing a better than average job of providing dental care for the poor. Instead, a handful of orthodontists were bilking Medicaid by putting braces on thousands of children who did not require them. They were also tweaking the braces more often than recommended and keeping them on much longer than was normal…”
Day: June 8, 2012
Jobless Benefits – Ohio
Benefits to run out for jobless Ohioans, By Randy Tucker, June 7, 2012, Dayton Daily News: “So far this year, more than 50,000 Ohioans have exhausted their federal extended unemployment benefits, and those still receiving benefits are facing stiffer eligibility requirements. State jobs officials recently adopted two new rules for receiving unemployment checks in accordance with the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which extended federal benefits through the end of this year. Ohio now requires all claimants to prove that they have been actively seeking work to qualify for state and federal benefits. In Ohio, federal benefits kick in after 26 weeks of state benefits have been exhausted. In the past, Ohio jobs officials conducted random audits to make sure claimants were meeting the requirement, which the state defines as making contact with at least two different employers each week. But since April, all claimants have been required to submit the names of at least two potential employers with their weekly applications for benefits, said Ben Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services…”
Foster Care System – Texas
Travis County foster care system is among the most efficient in Texas, report finds, By Tara Merrigan, June 6, 2012, Austin American-Statesman: “Associate Judge John Hathaway, who presides over most of Travis County’s foster care cases, says he sometimes feels more like a parent in his courtroom. ‘I feel like I’ve been raising some of these kids,’ Hathaway said. ‘I’m happy when they leave the system, but I also feel a loss with that loss of personal connection. I always tell them to come back and see me.’ This familiarity, engendered by a number of changes to the Travis County juvenile justice system in recent years, has helped make Travis County’s foster care system one of the most effective in Texas, according to a new report set to be released today. The report’s findings could help the state improve its struggling foster care system in a time of government cutbacks. The study, by Texas Appleseed, an Austin-based nonprofit legal group focused on social justice issues, found that a jurisdiction’s ability to place foster children in permanent homes was more closely tied to courtroom procedures than spending…”