State Medicaid Programs

Posted on March 9, 2012 by townsend

• State cuts squeezing the elderly poor and their doctors, By Thanh Tan, March 8, 2012, New York Times: “After Dr. Javier Saenz completed his family-medicine residency in 1985, he returned home to the Rio Grande Valley to open a practice in the impoverished town of La Joya. Today, Saenz Medical Center treats up to 150 patients a day. Dr. Saenz is the volunteer physician for the local high schools and their football teams. A middle school is named after him. Despite his success, Dr. Saenz, 56, said he feels nothing like a hero these days. His practice, he said, is hanging by a thread. His troubles reflect a statewide problem for doctors who treat a disproportionately high number of the reported 320,000 low-income Texans who are dually eligible for Medicare, the federal insurer of the elderly, and Medicaid, the joint state-federal health care program for indigent children, disabled people and the very poor. On Jan. 1, the state reduced its share of co-payments for such patients. Physicians who treat them are seeing less revenue. Many, like Dr. Saenz, are not sure they can make enough money to stay in business…”
• TennCare hospital reimbursements vary widely, By Tom Wilemon, March 9, 2012, The Tennessean: “Some Tennessee hospitals are questioning why they should continue paying a self-imposed tax to prop up the state’s Medicaid program because competitors are getting back much more in reimbursements while they lose money treating TennCare patients. Hospital executives were shocked to learn that insurance contractors for TennCare, the state health-care program for the poor, were paying more than four times as much to some hospitals as to others for outpatient procedures. In some cases, the disparities amounted to millions of dollars – enough to make or break a hospital’s budget…”
• Last-minute plan would let FSSA cut Medicaid, By Chris Sikich, March 9, 2012, Indianapolis Star: “As today’s adjournment for the General Assembly quickly approaches, lawmakers are debating a last-minute plan to give the Family and Social Services Administration broad powers to reduce Medicaid spending. In 2011, the General Assembly approved a measure to help the agency cut $212 million from Medicaid to balance spending. The FSSA was granted emergency powers to quickly cut funding or alter or eliminate certain Medicaid programs. The action allowed the agency to bypass public hearings and legislative oversight. Just how long those powers should last has been a matter of debate…”
• Medicaid cut would hit Florida’s poorest patients, hospitals, By Mary Shedden, March 8, 2012, Tampa Tribune: “Doctors and hospitals treating Florida’s poorest patients face significant pay cuts in the state’s nearly final budget. Legislators will vote by Friday on a $70 billion budget that includes $304 million less to reimburse hospitals. A Florida Hospital Association analysis released Wednesday projects the state’s hospitals will receive $642.8 million less for treating poor children, pregnant women and disabled adults in 2013. This second consecutive year of Medicaid cuts will force hospitals to quickly decide what services to reduce or eliminate, said Kimberly Guy, chief operating officer at St. Joseph’s hospitals for women and children, where the cuts could total $7.3 million…”