- Arizona Supreme Court allows cuts to AHCCCS to stand, By Mary K. Reinhart, February 15, 2012, Arizona Republic: “The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review an appeal challenging cuts to the state’s Medicaid program, letting stand an enrollment freeze that has locked thousands of poor residents out of government-paid health insurance. An estimated 100,000 childless adults will lose Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System coverage this fiscal year. The state has turned away an untold number since a lower-court judge allowed the cap to take effect in July. The high court’s decision effectively ends the case, which centers on a 2000 voter- approved measure that expanded the AHCCCS population. However, it lets stand an Appeals Court ruling that effectively said the budget cuts violated the measure, Proposition 204, but the court couldn’t force the Legislature to obey the law. The court decisions raise questions about how much room legislators have to interpret ballot measures…”
- Feds look into Minnesota’s premium rates for poor, By Jackie Crosby, February 14, 2012, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “The federal government has launched an investigation into whether Minnesota has set premium rates too high on health insurance coverage for low-income people, officials said Tuesday. The probe came to light at a state House committee hearing, at which one critic of the state’s nonprofit plans said they earn more on the state plans for Medical Assistance than they have on commercial plans, even as doctors and hospitals collect less reimbursement. But even as lawmakers pushed for answers during a sweeping four-hour session, few details were forthcoming…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty