State Medicaid Cuts

Posted on March 16, 2010 by townsend

• With Medicaid cuts, doctors and patients drop out, By Kevin Sack, March 15, 2010, New York Times: “Carol Y. Vliet’s cancer returned with a fury last summer, the tumors metastasizing to her brain, liver, kidneys and throat. As she began a punishing regimen of chemotherapy and radiation, Mrs. Vliet found a measure of comfort in her monthly appointments with her primary care physician, Dr. Saed J. Sahouri, who had been monitoring her health for nearly two years. She was devastated, therefore, when Dr. Sahouri informed her a few months later that he could no longer see her because, like a growing number of doctors, he had stopped taking patients with Medicaid. Dr. Sahouri said that his reimbursements from Medicaid were so low – often no more than $25 per office visit – that he was losing money every time a patient walked in his exam room. The final insult, he said, came when Michigan cut those payments by 8 percent last year to help close a gaping budget shortfall…”
• Medicaid puts Missouri governor in a bind, By Virginia Young, March 15, 2010, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “‘Don’t cut care,’ pleaded the sign held by a group of people whose wheelchairs lined a Capitol hearing room. It looked like 2005, when then-Gov. Matt Blunt and the Republican-controlled Legislature cut 100,000 people from Medicaid, the government’s health care program for the poor. But this protest was held last month. The target: Gov. Jay Nixon. Yes, Nixon, the Democrat who promised to expand Medicaid, is seeking $120 million in health care cuts to buoy the sagging state budget. And in a role reversal that illustrates the political quagmire that Medicaid poses for Nixon, it’s the Republican Legislature that is balking…”
• Cuts might be avoided with Medicaid bailout funds, Associated Press, March 16, 2010, Augusta Chronicle: “South Carolina lawmakers on Monday approved plans that would avoid all cuts in health and medical programs by using federal Medicaid bailout cash. With a 96-6 vote, the House approved a measure that uses $173.6 million in federal Medicaid money to eliminate planned reductions for the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, prescription drugs and other programs. But if the federal money — which has yet to win final approval in Washington — doesn’t materialize, the spending reductions would take effect, said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont…”