- LePage’s claims that Maine’s Medicaid spending is above average are true, By Clarke Canfield (AP), February 20, 2012, Bangor Daily News: “In his relentless demands for steep Medicaid cuts, Gov. Paul LePage has said Maine spends far more per capita than other states on Medicaid and is high above the national average. Whether you support or oppose LePage’s cost-cutting proposals, he’s right. Maine had the nation’s fifth-highest Medicaid coverage rate in fiscal year 2009, 27.8 percent, behind California, New Mexico, Louisiana and Vermont, according to the latest statistics for Maine from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The national rate for the same period was 21 percent. Maine’s Medicaid expenses for that year amounted to $1,890 per resident. That’s 61 percent higher than the national average of $1,173 per person, according to CMMS statistics…”
- New Mexico proposes to overhaul Medicaid program, By Barry Massey, February 21, 2012, February 21, 2012, Boston Globe: “Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration is proposing to overhaul a program that provides health care to a fourth of the state’s population, and the changes could require some needy New Mexicans to dig into their pockets to pay a fee if they go to an emergency room for medical care that’s not considered an emergency. One of the goals of the planned revision is to slow the rate of growth in Medicaid, which accounts for 16 percent of this year’s state budget and costs New Mexico taxpayers nearly $1 billion…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty