CNN Money: "Until now, stimulus money spared governors and state lawmakers from making some of the most brutal budget cuts. But with this lifeline running out, officials are looking at making significant cutbacks to public services, particularly schools and health programs. As of mid-April...
Stateline.org: "Late last year, when Congress' willingness to pass an enormous health care bill still was very much in doubt, states had a more modest goal that should have been easier to achieve. They wanted Congress to pass a 6-month extension of the part of the economic stimulus program that...
Health News Florida: "Calling the current system 'broken' and warning of long-term financial problems, the state House today approved a proposal that would gradually shift almost all Medicaid recipients into managed-care plans. The votes on two bills set the stage for the House and Senate to try...
Health News Florida: "Calling the current system 'broken' and warning of long-term financial problems, the state House today approved a proposal that would gradually shift almost all Medicaid recipients into managed-care plans. The votes on two bills set the stage for the House and Senate to try...
Kaiser Health News: "Starting today, states can choose to take the first steps toward the massive expansion of insurance coverage that is the health overhaul's chief goal. And for some states, that move could have the benefit of reviving funding for state-run programs that insure low-income...
The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs. The legislation "faces a key test vote in the Senate, its...
The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs. The legislation "faces a key test vote in the Senate, its...
The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs. The legislation "faces a key test vote in the Senate, its...
The San Francisco Chronicle: "A federal appeals court barred California on Wednesday from lowering Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals by 5 percent and from cutting in-home care workers' wages by nearly 20 percent, saying the state's budget crisis doesn't justify violating federal laws...
States consider major cuts to Medicaid services and reimbursement rates to help fill gaps in the budget. The Associated Press: "Lawmakers are considering cutting all services for nearly 26,000 people with disabilities as South Carolina tries to plug a $560 million budget hole. Parents say the...
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to extend unemployment benefits, health insurance subsidies for those recently laid-off and help for state Medicaid budgets that would in total cost $100 billion, The Associated Press reports. The measure is separate from the jobs bill. "Facing a Feb...
An extension of increased federal matching funds to states for their Medicaid programs is needed quickly to avert huge cutbacks in Medicaid coverage and services across the country, according to a report issued today by the consumer health group Families USA. Last year, Congress passed the...
An extension of increased federal matching funds to states for their Medicaid programs is needed quickly to avert huge cutbacks in Medicaid coverage and services across the country, according to a report issued today by the consumer health group Families USA. Last year, Congress passed the...
Central Valley Business Times: "California is going to have to pay a $51.8 billion bill for health and dental benefits for state retirees, says state Controller John Chiang in a report to the Legislature Tuesday. 'Even as we try to claw our way out of the recession and provide needed cash to the...
Virginian-Pilot: Area hospitals are preparing "for a round of Medicaid spending cuts that executives say could be the worst in decades and lead to more cutbacks in their organizations. Rising health care costs and a surge in the number of Medicaid patients have increased the state's obligation...
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Ohio's seven Medicaid managed care plans this month will make changes in the prescription drug plans that cover about 1.5 million people, although many of those beneficiaries will not face increased costs. The changes are expected to save the state about...
The Seattle Times investigates Washington's practice of relocating some Medicaid patients from nursing homes to adult family homes. "Jeri Ringseth had no business being in an adult family home. Her physical and mental disabilities are so significant that she's spent most of her adult life in...
The Holland (Mich.) Sentinel reports on possible Medicaid cuts in Michigan: "After an 8 percent reduction in Medicaid reimbursement for 2010, state health organizations say additional cuts for 2011 could be overwhelming. ... To help resolve the state deficit, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop...
President Obama's budget proposal tops $3.8 trillion, and would draw a $1.3 trillion shortfall in 2011 despite efforts to freeze and cut spending and channel an extra $100 billion to immediately attack the high unemployment rate, The Washington Post reports. "The 2011 blueprint repeats many of...
A roundup of state health news: The (Spokane, Wash.) Spokesman-Review: "Walgreen Co. said it will stop filling Medicaid prescriptions at about half of its pharmacies in Washington next month because of continued reimbursement reductions" (Stucke, 1/14). The Wall Street Journal: It's...