- Medicaid could be scaled back sharply under GOP plans, By Noam N. Levey, July 30, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Nearly half a century after President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicaid into law, conservative critics of the massive government health insurance program for the poor are readying a new push to dramatically scale it back if Republicans control the White House and Congress next year. GOP governors, emboldened by the Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s healthcare law, are already balking at expanding Medicaid to meet the goals of the Affordable Care Act. Some are rolling back coverage now, arguing that the program is ineffective and unaffordable. At the same time, congressional Republicans, backed by influential conservative activists, are renewing calls to convert Medicaid into a series of smaller grants to states, reprising the successful GOP strategy that cut cash welfare programs in the mid-1990s…”
- Obama administration says states will join Medicaid expansion, By David Morgan, July 30, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “The Obama administration on Monday said it expects that U.S. states will eventually join its planned expansion of the Medicaid healthcare program as they evaluate the benefits of providing health coverage to more low-income people. U.S. Medicaid director Cindy Mann said states will likely spend the next several months analyzing the plan, which under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, would extend health coverage to about 16 million uninsured people based on new criteria that broadens eligibility to people with incomes of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line…”
Day: August 1, 2012
Health Insurance Coverage – Nebraska
Number of Nebraska’s uninsured up dramatically, By Martha Stoddard, July 31, 2012, Omaha World-Herald: “At least 217,000 Nebraskans lack health insurance, a number that grew steeply over the past decade, according to a report released Tuesday. University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers found that the number of uninsured Nebraskans too young for Medicare grew 67 percent from 2000 to 2010. ‘This might seem somewhat alarming,’ said Jim Stimpson, associate professor in the UNMC Center for Health Policy and co-author of the report. Nebraska’s experience is similar to that of other Midwest states, he said…”
General Assistance Program – Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania General Assistance program ends today, By Clara Ritger, August 1, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “With Gerald Ragin’s state cash assistance set to end today, the 46-year-old McKeesport resident will be spending the day with a caseworker, filling out an application for federal disability benefits. Welfare advocates say that he may be waiting a long time for help, because his main option for replacing his monthly state General Assistance checks could take at least a year to enroll. In the meantime, he and 61,000 other Pennsylvanians will no longer receive approximately $200 in monthly benefits due to state budget cuts. Those who qualified for aid through the General Assistance program included disabled or sick unemployed adults without dependent children, domestic violence survivors and adults participating in drug and alcohol treatment programs…”