States can cut back on Medicaid payments, administration says, By Robert Pear, February 25, 2013, New York Times: “The Obama administration said Monday that states could cut Medicaid payments to many doctors and other health care providers to hold down costs in the program, which insures 60 million low-income people and will soon cover many more under the new health care law. The administration’s position, set forth in a federal appeals court in California, has broad national implications as it comes as the White House is trying to persuade states to expand Medicaid as part of the new law…”
Day: February 26, 2013
Public Assistance and Drug Testing
- Kansas bill requiring drug testing for unemployment, welfare advances, By Brent D. Wistrom, February 25, 2013, Kansas City Star: “State officials would require drug tests of any Kansan they have reason to believe may be using controlled substances and also getting unemployment or welfare benefits under a bill a Senate panel advanced Monday. Under the proposal that is now poised for a vote in the Senate, welfare and unemployment recipients who fail a urine drug test would lose state cash assistance until they complete a substance abuse treatment program and job skills training. They would then be subject to periodic tests…”
- Indiana House backs drug tests of welfare recipients, By Mary Beth Schneider, February 26, 2013, Indianapolis Star: “Indiana welfare recipients would face drug testing, and the possible loss of benefits if they fail to stick to treatment, under a bill that passed the Indiana House Monday. House Bill 1483, which passed 78-17 and is now headed to the Senate, is part of a growing nationwide movement among states trying to ensure that those who receive tax dollars because they are poor don’t spend them on illegal drugs…”
- Temporary ban on Fla. welfare drug testing upheld, By James L. Rosica (AP), February 26, 2013, Houston Chronicle: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a temporary ban on a law requiring drug testing of Florida’s welfare recipients, prompting Gov. Rick Scott to say he’ll now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that a lower court was right to temporarily halt enforcement of the state’s drug-testing program. The opinion said the state of Florida hadn’t shown a ‘substantial special need’ for a mandatory testing program with no suspicion of an individual’s drug use…”