- Medicaid change could affect more than illegals, By Mark Andersen, January 27, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “A number of legal citizens in Nebraska could lose prenatal Medicaid coverage alongside 1,000 illegal immigrants because of a federal rule clarification. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services told state senators Jan. 15 the state was notified that federal law prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are not documented, except in emergencies. That includes prenatal care for illegal immigrants. But the same rule may affect some legal residents in two groups: pregnant teens living with parents and pregnant adults living in borderline low-income households. The expected change for both groups results from a federal demand that Nebraska stop using eligibility standards that count the unborn as people for purposes of Medicaid eligibility…”
- Officials disagree on who can make Medicaid decision for illegals, By Mark Andersen, January 28, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nebraska Medicaid could continue to cover prenatal care for poor illegal immigrants, but that must be the Legislature’s call, the state’s top Medicaid official said Thursday. ‘I’m a firm believer in prenatal care,’ said Vivianne Chaumont, director of the state’s division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, ‘but the feds make policy. The Legislature makes policy.’ In light of LB403, the law approved last year that denies illegal immigrants the right to public benefits, jobs or contracts, Chaumont said she will not assume authority to extend that coverage. Staff attorneys with Nebraska Appleseed argued that Chaumont could act without official legislative action, which could be important now that the deadline has passed for introducing new bills…”
- Senate affirms Medicaid cut, By Tim Carpenter, January 27, 2010, Topeka Capital-Journal: “The legislative session’s first major showdown in a caustic state budget battle Wednesday culminated with Senate affirmation of a $22 million reduction in Medicaid funding recommended by Gov. Mark Parkinson. An attempt to delete the cut to a program providing health care to the poor failed 16-24, with more than a dozen Republicans joining with Democrats to preserve this controversial element of the governor’s plan for balancing the current budget. The Senate bill was then forwarded to the House for consideration. Parkinson proposed the 10 percent reduction in Medicaid payments to hospitals, nursing homes and clinics to help close a deficit exacerbated by unexpected declines in state tax revenue. Adjustments outlined by the governor were part of a larger package of spending cuts he believes sufficient to meet government obligations through June…”
- Gibbons drops proposal to end state Medicaid program, By David McGrath Schwartz, January 27, 2010, Las Vegas Sun: “Gov. Jim Gibbons has decided not to push for Nevada to drop out of Medicaid, citing spending patterns, the number of people served under the public health plan and the ‘apparent demise of the federal health care reform.’ In a news release, Gibbons warned that spending has increased an average of 10 percent a year over the past decade, and ‘undercuts our ability to fund other state responsibilities and is crowding out education, public safety and infrastructure…'”
Tag: Immigrants
Kids Count Report – Nebraska
- Kids Count report targeting low weight babies, By Harold Reutter, January 13, 2010, Grand Island Independent: “Although Nebraska is making progress in a number of areas on the well-being of its children, there are a number of areas that should still cause concern. Those conclusions were part of the annual Kids Count in Nebraska 2009 report released Wednesday by the organization Voices for Children in Nebraska. Annmarie Bailey Fowler, host for the Tuesday webinar that preceded the Wednesday release of the Kids Count report, said the 2009 report focused on the area of infant and maternal in addition to immigrant children. She said that indicator was picked because there had been no improvement in the trend of low birth weight babies over time…”
- Report: Nebraska’s infant mortality rate jumps, By Erin Andersen, January 13, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “It’s not just children of in poverty or of immigrants who have a rough go of it in ‘the good life’ state, according to the 2009 Kids Count report. In 2007 (the latest year of statistics) Nebraska’s tiniest and youngest citizens died at the highest rate in five years — 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 births, said Dr. Magda Peck, associate dean and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center…”
- Report: Immigrants’ children fastest growing youth population in Nebraska, By Erin Andersen, January 13, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nearly one in eight Nebraska kids were born to immigrants in 2008 — making them the state’s fastest growing youth population. But statistics find these kids face more barriers than children of U.S.-born parents, according to the 2009 Kids Count report released Wednesday. Sixty-one percent of children born to immigrants live in poverty — compared with 13.4 percent of Nebraska children as a whole…”
- Immigrant kids’ needs highlighted, By Cindy Gonzalez, January 13, 2010, Omaha World-Herald: “The latest ‘Kids Count in Nebraska’ report ventures into atypical and politically charged territory: immigration. Usually, authors present only a general report card on how children fare in Nebraska. They compile statistics on subjects such as dropout rates, infant mortality and juvenile crime. This year, Voices for Children, a statewide research and policy group that released the 85-page report, chose to highlight barriers faced by immigrant children and parents…”
TANF and Immigrants – Nevada
More welfare going to parents here illegally, By Timothy Pratt, October 27, 2009, Las Vegas Sun: “Jose Silva had just obtained an appointment in three weeks to see whether his family would be eligible for monthly welfare benefits. ‘Now I just have to not eat until then,’ he joked, standing with his wife on the sidewalk outside the state office on Flamingo Road. Silva has been without a steady job for a year, one of tens of thousands of workers still reeling from the bottom dropping out of the Las Vegas Valley’s construction industry, the region’s second-largest employer after tourism. If approved for assistance, the Silvas will belong to the fastest-growing category of families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Bearing the confusing government label of ‘non-qualified non-citizens,’ this category refers to families with parents who are not U.S. citizens and children who are. Since the recession began in late 2007, the average monthly caseload of these families has grown 96 percent, according to state records. About 4,250 of these families of mixed immigration status were on the program’s rolls in September, making it the second-largest category in TANF, after single-parent households…”