- Medicaid cuts: Can Kentucky limit the pain?, By Deborah Yetter, August 8, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “State lawmakers trying to cut Medicaid costs might consider Morgan Drugs in Bedford, Trimble County’s only pharmacy. Owner and pharmacist Bob Yowler depends on business from Medicaid patients to help make ends meet. Many of his customers – especially elderly and low-income people who lack transportation – have no other good option for prescriptions and advice. And the store provides about a dozen jobs – not bad for a farm community with an unemployment rate of 14 percent, Yowler said. ‘It’s a Main Street business,’ he added. While pharmacy benefits are one of Medicaid’s most expensive programs, the services provided by Morgan Drugs show that the impact of the cuts will go well beyond the poor and disabled who receive benefits. And it provides a good example of the difficult decisions lawmakers face as they look for savings in the sprawling, $5.2 billion-a-year health plan…”
- Medicaid growth burning budget, By Catherine Candisky, August 8, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “The cost of Ohio’s largest safety-net program has nearly doubled in the past decade. Taxpayers spent $14.7 billion last year to provide health coverage to poor and disabled Ohioans as Medicaid – the largest and fastest growing segment of state government – now consumes about 26 percent of the state budget. ‘That is true of health care, period,’ Greg Moody, interim director of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, said of skyrocketing costs. “If you look at a person’s paycheck or a business’ bottom line that offers coverage, health care has been this constantly growing component and the same is true for state government…”
- Medicaid changes will hurt kids, dentists say, By Alison Knezevich, August 7, 2010, Charleston Gazette: “Fewer poor children in West Virginia will get dental care when the state changes the way it administers Medicaid later this year, a group representing dentists says. The West Virginia Dental Association believes the new set-up will burden dentists, resulting in more tax dollars being spent on administrative costs, rather than on services for needy kids, said the group’s director, Richard Stevens. The state Department of Health and Human Resources plans to contract with managed-care companies to administer benefits of patients enrolled in Medicaid, the state/federal health insurance program for the poor. These companies also are called health maintenance organizations…”
Tag: West Virginia
Welfare-to-Work Program – West Virginia
Welfare-to-work program not working, audit finds, By Phil Kabler, January 11, 2010, Charleston Gazette: “It’s called ‘welfare to work,’ but a legislative audit released Monday found that only about 14 percent of the state program’s recipients actually find employment before their benefits end. The study of West Virginia Works welfare benefits from 2001 to 2006 found that, at the time recipients’ cases were closed, an average of only 14 percent had found employment. Another 14 percent were unemployed but looking for work, while roughly 72 percent were unemployed and not actively seeking employment. Those figures trended downward over the five years: In 2001, nearly 31 percent of welfare recipients were employed when their cases closed. By 2006, that figure was below 6 percent…”
High School Graduation Rates – West Virginia, Indiana
- Graduation rate worse than thought, By Ry Rivard, January 12, 2010, Charleston Daily Mail: “One of every four West Virginia high school students doesn’t graduate within four years, if ever, according to a study by the Legislative Auditor’s Office. The audit, presented Monday to lawmakers, also found a connection between large high schools and lower graduation rates. In a review of the state Department of Education, auditors recalculated the state graduation rate for 2007-2008 using a new federal standard and found the state school system is doing worse than previously reported at producing high school graduates. The education department had reported the graduation rate as about 85 percent. Under the new calculations by the auditors, it was likely about 75 percent. That rate has been flat for the past decade, so is likely still about the same…”
- Indiana’s High school graduation rates rising, By Andy Gammill, January 8, 2010, Indianapolis Star: “The percentage of students in Indiana’s class of 2009 who graduated in four years increased nearly 4 points over the class of 2008. Marion County — where most districts have significant dropout problems — mirrored the increase. State education officials said the increase was good news and demonstrated hard work by leaders at the state and local levels but also said that too many children still are dropping out or otherwise not earning a high school diploma. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett has set a goal that 90 percent of the state’s students graduate from high school in four years…”