States and Medicaid Expansion

Posted on May 31, 2013 by admin

• A quarter-million uninsured vets will miss out on Medicaid expansion, By Michael Ollove, Stateline: “More than a quarter-million veterans who lack health insurance will miss out on Medicaid coverage because they live in states that have declined to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act. Expanding Medicaid eligibility is a key component of the new federal health law, which aims to provide coverage to the vast majority of uninsured Americans. In January, uninsured adults with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($15,415 for an individual and $32,527 for a family of four) will become eligible for Medicaid benefits in states that expand their programs. Many people assume that the nation’s 12.5 million non-elderly veterans receive health benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). But only two-thirds of those veterans are eligible for VA health care and only one-third are enrolled…”
• Medicaid expansion crucial to mentally ill, By Catherine Candisky, May 30, 2013, Columbus Dispatch: “Ohio’s mentally ill will be among those hurt most if lawmakers refuse to expand Medicaid under the federal health-care law. A report being released today by the National Alliance for Mental Illness found 1 in 4 Ohioans who would gain subsidized health coverage suffer from mental illness. Ohio is among 16 states still undecided about expansion, and of those, only one has a higher rate — Nebraska, where 30 percent have mental illness…”
• Full Medicaid expansion would save money and cover more, fiscal bureau says, By David Wahlberg, May 29, 2013, Wisconsin State Journal: “Wisconsin would save $119 million and cover nearly 85,000 more adults if it did a full Medicaid expansion under federal health reform instead of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed partial expansion, according to a nonpartisan report. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau report, released Tuesday, comes as the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee is poised to take up Walker’s Medicaid plan this week or next week…”
• Gov. Snyder to call in federal help to push for Medicaid expansion, By Kathleen Gray and Matt Helms, May 31, 2013, Detroit Free Press: “Gov. Rick Snyder will call in federal reinforcements to help convince a recalcitrant Republican-majority Legislature to accept money to expand Medicaid. After a speech Friday closing out the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference, Snyder said he has talked with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to determine the best way to get the expansion passed in Michigan, and setting a time for someone with HHS to come to the state to talk with lawmakers…”
• LePage loses full funding Medicaid request, By Steve Mistler, May 31, 2013, Portland Press Herald: “The federal government cannot grant Gov. Paul LePage’s request for 10 years of full funding for an expansion of Medicaid in Maine, says the agency that administers the program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services delivered the message to the LePage administration in a letter on May 24. The decision wasn’t unexpected, but it revived the heated debate among state lawmakers and Le- Page over whether Maine should extend benefits to 60,000 more low-income residents. The federal government has given several states flexibility for their participation in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, but no state has secured a deal to fully fund expansion for a decade…”
• Corbett protests switching children to Medicaid, By Marc Levy (AP), May 31, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Gov. Tom Corbett is pressing the federal government for an exemption that he said will prevent about 70,000 Pennsylvania children in a state-subsidized health insurance program from having to switch to Medicaid, although a public interest law center challenged Corbett’s claims and said the children will be better off under Medicaid. Corbett wrote Thursday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about his latest request, part of his effort to press her agency to make enough concessions to a federally funded expansion of Medicaid before he will change his mind and allow Pennsylvania to join it…”