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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

State Health Insurance Plans – Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina

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  • Fla. Medicaid lawsuit heads to trial, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), December 2, 2009, Miami Herald: “The state has spent about $2 million defending a class-action lawsuit that claims Florida is violating federal Medicaid requirements by providing inadequate medical and dental care to more than a million children. The case, scheduled for trial next week, claims 390,000 children did not get a medical checkup in 2007 and more than 750,000 received no dental care. The problem: Many doctors and dentists won’t accept Medicaid as Florida’s reimbursement rates are among the country’s lowest. Medicaid pays $15 for a basic dental exam in Florida, compared to $25 in Tennessee, which is considered a model of success for Medicaid dental reform. It’s about $40 for private insurance. A pilot program in Miami-Dade County pays dentists a monthly fee of $6.55 to treat each child…”
  • TN health insurance plans stop enrolling needy, By Christina E. Sanchez and Janell Ross, December 2, 2009, The Tennessean: “As state funds run dry, Tennessee has cut off enrollment for two health insurance programs for low-income people, leaving the state at risk of a crisis, advocates say. Tennessee became the only state in the nation to have frozen enrollment for a children’s health insurance program funded largely with federal money, according to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. The state stopped accepting new CoverKids applicants on Monday. At the same time, the state stopped enrolling adults in CoverTN, an insurance program designed for the self-employed and working poor…”
  • NC Medicaid dealing with cost-control delays, By Gary D. Robertson, December 1, 2009, Charlotte Observer: “North Carolina is breaking the Medicaid budget lawmakers approved this summer because more people need health insurance coverage after losing their jobs and are getting treated for swine flu, an agency leader said Tuesday. State spending for the government health insurance program for low-income families and senior citizens – along with the disabled – is $160 million over budget so far this fiscal year as expenditures have surged nearly 9 percent compared to a year ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler said…”