Millions of Medicaid kids missing regular checkups, By Phil Galewitz, November 13, 2014, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Millions of low-income children are failing to get the free preventive exams and screenings guaranteed by Medicaid and the Obama administration is not doing enough to fix the problem, according to a federal watchdog report. The report, released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG), says the administration has boosted rates of participation but needs to do more to ensure that children get the regular wellness exams, dental checkups and vision and hearing tests. The report notes that 63 percent of children on Medicaid received at least one medical screening in 2013, up from 56 percent in 2006, but still far below the department’s 80 percent goal…”
Day: November 14, 2014
Food Stamp Trafficking
A new push to halt food stamp trafficking, By Jake Grovum, November 10, 2014, Stateline: “Backed by a $300,000 federal grant, South Carolina officials are trying a new approach to what they call a particularly insidious problem: food stamp trafficking. The pilot program gained approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this fall, and if successful, could provide a model for other states looking to limit trafficking of food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Officials use the word ‘trafficking’ to describe the sale of food stamp benefits for cash, or the use of the benefits to turn a profit instead of to purchase food. They say stories about trafficking undermine public confidence in a program that, despite huge growth during the Great Recession, has seen other measures of error rates fall to historic lows…”
State Minimum Wage – Oklahoma
Minimum wage increase by other states puts spotlight on Oklahoma law, By Cary Aspinwall and Curtis Killman, November 10, 2014, Tulsa World: “Lori Pearson spent a year working at Whataburger before leaving a few months ago to take a job cleaning clothes at Blue Monday Coin Laundry and Dry Cleaners. Both jobs in Tulsa were for minimum wage. Neither one came with insurance or benefits, she said, while sorting customers’ soiled laundry. ‘I love my job, I really do,’ Pearson said. ‘I have a wonderful boss. But it would be nice to get paid more than minimum wage.’ Voters in four states this past Tuesday approved increases of their minimum wage, including neighboring Arkansas. With Tuesday’s votes, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota joined 24 others plus the District of Columbia that have raised their state minimum wages beyond the federal minimum wage. Voters in Alaska, where the minimum wage rate already exceeded the federal minimum, also approved a measure Tuesday to increase the rate from $7.75 an hour to $9.75 an hour by 2016. But Oklahoma is holding steady at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Earlier this year, the state even passed a law forbidding any of its cities or counties from increasing the minimum wage beyond the federal minimum wage…”