- State, feds square off in Medicaid battle, By Heather Gillers, June 5, 2011, Indianapolis Star: “Before he signed a bill cutting Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding last month, Gov. Mitch Daniels said the group could keep the funds if it gave up providing abortions. If Planned Parenthood wanted Medicaid money, in other words, it would have to play by Indiana’s rules. Then, the federal government turned the tables. Federal Medicaid officials rejected Indiana’s Medicaid plan because its provision to strip funding from Planned Parenthood violates federal law. If Indiana wants Medicaid money, the federal government said, the state would have to play by federal rules…”
- New Jersey seeks to shrink Medicaid, By Joel Rose, June 7, 2011, National Public Radio: “Cash-strapped states are rethinking how much health care coverage they can afford to provide for their neediest residents. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants to cut $500 million in Medicaid spending – in part by freezing more than 20,000 state residents out of the program. Critics say the cuts would hurt those who can least afford it. For years, New Jersey expanded health care coverage for low-income residents – people like Deborah Shupenko of Passaic. But last month, after 10 years of state-funded health insurance, Shupenko got a letter in the mail…”
- More Medicaid cuts on way: Payments to doctors will be reduced; some visits to cost patients $1 more, By Renee Dudley, June 7, 2011, Charleston Post and Courier: “Medicaid payments to doctors will be reduced by up to 7 percent and patient co-payments for some doctor visits will increase by $1 as the South Carolina Medicaid agency cuts an estimated $125 million in state costs for the fiscal year that begins next month, agency officials announced Monday. Beginning July 1, patient co-pays will increase from $2.30 to $3.30 — the maximum amount allowed by federal law — for doctor, clinic, home health and optometrist visits. And for the first time, people enrolled in some programs for the elderly and disabled will be required to make co-pays for some medical services. Starting July 8, Medicaid reimbursement rates to doctors, dentists and most hospitals will be cut for the second time in three months…”
Tag: South Carolina
Medicaid Application Process and Enrollment – South Carolina
- The face of the newly poor, By Yvonne Wenger, August 22, 2100, Charleston Post and Courier: “Every day, an average of 112 people — most of them the newly poor — sign up for free government health care in South Carolina. Since the recession officially hit in December 2007, some 3,300 people a month, on average, have signed up for Medicaid in a state that outpaces the nation for poverty, obesity and diseases such as diabetes. Yet, South Carolina’s political leaders have been among the most vocal in the country in opposition of the new health care law. The new law is intended to provide insurance coverage to a portion of the nearly 17 percent of state residents estimated to be without it. But it won’t come cheap: The law will cost the cash-strapped state nearly $1 billion more over the next decade, even after the federal government kicks in its share. Advocates and academics alike say the federal plan is critical for South Carolina’s future prosperity. Healthy workers draw in new businesses, they say, and an educated population starts with children who aren’t sick when they go to school. But many say Medicaid is only part of the answer to South Carolina’s grave health care needs. Others think government-run health care should not be the solution…”
- Signing up for Medicaid more difficult, By Yvonne Wenger, August 24, 2010, Charleston Post and Courier: “Tens of thousands of South Carolinians likely are eligible for government-run health care but aren’t signed up because bureaucratic red tape creates obstacles, advocates said Monday. Sue Berkowitz, director of Appleseed Legal Justice Center, and John Ruoff, program director for South Carolina Fair Share, said Medicaid enrollment isn’t keeping pace with the need, despite the seemingly rapid increase during the state’s deep and prolonged economic downturn. Advocates are working to identify how great the need is, but an exact number isn’t clear. More than 750,000 people are estimated to be without health insurance in the state, although not all of them are eligible for Medicaid. A report Sunday by The Post and Courier revealed that as many as 112 people a day sign up for Medicaid in South Carolina. More than 90,000 have enrolled since the recession officially hit in December 2007…”
Unemployment and Home Foreclosures
Oregon gets federal money to help unemployed avert foreclosures, By Charles Pope, August 4, 2010, The Oregonian: “The Obama administration released $600 million Wednesday to help unemployed homeowners in Oregon and four other states avoid foreclosure. Oregon, where one in every 76 homes is facing foreclosure, qualifies for $88 million.The money will be used to help distressed homeowners. The money will be available to state housing authorities in Oregon, Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island and North Carolina “to support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress due to unemployment,” the Treasury Department said…”