States and Health Care Reform – IRP Poverty Dispatch

States decide on running new pools for insurance, By Robert Pear, April 29, 2010, New York Times: “The fight over the new health care law shifted Thursday to the states, as some governors claimed federal money to run a new insurance pool for people with serious medical problems, while officials in other states said they would not operate the program. Friday is the deadline for states to tell the Obama administration whether they want to run the high-risk insurance pool for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions, or whether they will leave the task to Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services…”
New Colorado law to help insure 67,500 more, By Jennifer Brown, April 29, 2010, Denver Post: “Colorado can afford to add about 67,500 people to Medicaid and other government insurance next week, thanks to a new state law that requires hospitals to chip in toward the landmark initiative. Hospitals made their initial payments – and in return, received more state and federal cash to take care of needy patients – this month. The amount each hospital paid was worked out through a complicated formula that left some hospitals in the hole and others millions of dollars ahead of where they were before the new law. The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing released a list of hospital winners and losers at The Denver Post’s request…”