- Health coverage at risk for working poor in Pa., By Don Sapatkin, November 17, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “An affordable health-insurance program for low-income working people that was started by Gov. Tom Ridge and expanded under Gov. Rendell is projected to run out of money within weeks after Gov.-elect Corbett takes office, administration officials said. Contractual obligations mean that insurance-termination notices may need to go to tens of thousands of subscribers in the program, known as adultBasic, even before the new governor is sworn in, if more than $50 million is not found before then, they said. As attorney general, Corbett joined a lawsuit seeking to overturn President Obama’s health-care overhaul. The opposition was based on the mandate that individuals and many businesses sign up or pay a fine, said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the transition. The governor-elect said during the campaign that he supported plans to continue funding the state program at least through the fiscal year that ends June 30…”
- With Medicaid waiver, California dives into health care reform, By Christine Vestal, November 19, 2010, Stateline.org: “Nearly missed in the noise from newly elected politicians vowing to upend the Obama administration’s health care reform law was a federal decision allowing California to start implementing it – and improve its fiscal situation in the process. On Election Day, California got word it would receive $10 billion in federal Medicaid money to extend coverage to some 500,000 people who are currently uninsured. The initiative means the nation’s most populous state will dive right into the new health law’s biggest challenge: providing coverage for low-income adults who are not eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor. The plan, which the state calls a ‘bridge to reform,’ is also designed to bolster the state’s safety-net hospitals, as well as lower overall health care costs. Under the Nov. 2 agreement – a waiver of standard Medicaid rules aimed at allowing states to test innovative new programs – California promised to shave $2 billion per year from its existing Medicaid bill by streamlining care for its highest-cost recipients: seniors, adults with disabilities and children with severe illnesses. The federal government agreed to give California $2 billion per year in return…”
- Maine Republicans say they will end ‘Dirigo’ health care experiment, By Pamela M. Prah, November 17, 2010, Stateline.org: “Before there was a federal health care overhaul, and before there was a Massachusetts law to use as a model for the national plan, there was Dirigo. That’s what Maine called its first-in-the-nation attempt at achieving universal health coverage when Democrats approved the plan back in 2003. Now, the Maine program may be one of the first casualties of the Republican landslide in state capitals. Maine’s incoming governor, Paul LePage, pledged during the campaign to ‘repeal and replace’ the plan, which is Latin for ‘I lead’ and is the state’s motto. Republicans also took control of the Maine House and Senate, making the state one of only two to flip from total Democratic control to total control by Republicans (Wisconsin was the other)…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty