WICS Live: Around the States

Tennessee: AccessTN Opened to Children with Chronic Medical Needs. Because the state has frozen enrollment in its CoverKids program as of November 30th because it reached its budgetary limit, the state December 3rd opened enrollment in AccessTN, the state’s high risk pool to children with chronic and acute conditions who would normally be eligible for the state’s expanded CHIP. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Montana: Healthy Montana Kids Faces Backlog of Applications. Montana: Healthy Montana Kids Faces Backlog of Applications. The program, which voters approved in 2008, had the goal of covering an additional 29,000 children by expanding Medicaid and the state’s CHIP. Currently, more than 2,300 families have applied to the program as of September, but only 740 children have been added due to a problem with a computer program. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Hawaii: With Existing Employer Insurance Mandate, States Looks to Opt Out of National Reform. For 35 years, the state has had a law on the books with an employer health insurance mandate. As a result, the state has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the nation. The Hawaii congressional delegation has inserted language into the House and Senate bills to protect the state’s Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974, should national health reform legislation pass. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Georgia: State’s Own Health Reform Efforts Result in Savings. Figures released November 12th show that the state saved between $123 million and $140 million over the past fiscal year by reforms implemented in the state’s Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs. Both programs utilize a concept called care-management organizations, which require a high level of interaction with beneficiaries and encourage healthful habits and increased interaction with their primary care physicians, rather than emergency rooms. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

New Report Shows 11 States Emerging from Recession. According to a November report from MoodysEconomy.com, Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and the District of Columbia are showing signs of economic recovery, based on several factors, including employment rates, home prices, manufacturing, and home construction. While the recession is moderating in just about every other state, the one state still in the grip of recession, according to the report, is Nevada. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Nine Other States Facing Budget Crisis of Par With California. A new Pew analysis has found that nine other states are on the edge of financial disaster and urges state legislatures to act quickly. The report identifies Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin as states in dire fiscal situations. These states all rely heavily on one type of industry, a history of persistent budget shortfalls. Compounding the historical problems are widespread home foreclosure, rising unemployment, and poor financial management. View the report. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

New York: Governor Signs Bill Further Reducing State Budget. Governor David A. Paterson (D) December 4th signed a package of bills to reduce a mid-year $3 billion budget shortfall. The new law includes $107 million in reduced Medicaid and health care spending. The bills also would raise the fraud recovery target for the Office of Medicaid Inspector General by $150 million for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31. The state will save $21 million by eliminating the 2010 trend factor in Medicaid reimbursement rates in 2010 for hospitals, nursing homes, and home and personal care providers. Other savings, under the bills, include $18.5 million by reducing pharmacy reimbursement rates under Medicaid and the state's Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program. The budget cuts were far less than those proposed in November by Paterson, who called for $280 million in Medicaid and health care reductions. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Nebraska: Governor Proposes Additional Spending Cuts. Facing a $334 million shortfall in the state’s biennial budget, Governor Dave Heineman (R) November 3rd proposed widespread budget cuts for lawmakers to consider. He said that he would oppose any legislative plan to increases taxes to address the budget deficit. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Mississippi: More Budget Cuts as State Budget Revenue Continues to Fall. Governor Haley Barbour (R) made a second round of budget cuts in early December, totaling $54.3 million. The latest round of cuts includes a 5% reduction to most state agencies and programs, including Medicaid, which will be effective in February. Overall, the Governor has cut $226 million from the state budget this year. However, there is a $160 million budget shortfall remaining. Barbour has said that he has made all the cuts he can under existing law and it will be up to legislators when they return to session in January to address the shortfall in order to have a balanced budget. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Indiana: Healthy Indiana Plan Will Enroll 5,000 More. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration November 6th announced that 5,000 Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) enrollment slots have been opened to childless adults. The program, which began in January, currently enrolls more than 46,000 adults. The 5,000 slots opened up largely through attrition in the program. The program is open to childless adults who earn less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and who have been uninsured for at least six months; participants pay 2-5% of their income for program coverage, which includes hospital and physician services, and prescription drugs. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

New Income Eligibility Information for Medicaid & State-Funded Coverage for Adults Available by State from Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Read it. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Enhanced FMAP Rates for Second Half of FY 2009 Published. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) increased states federal Medicaid matching rates by 6.2%, with additional increases depending on unemployment. The recession adjustment period included in ARRA began October 1 and will end December 31. Rates are available from the Federal Register. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Despite Budget Struggles, 26 States Expanded Medicaid/SCHIP with Help from Federal Stimulus Funds. See December 8th survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

States Continue to Face Fiscal Difficulties in the Face of Medicaid Enrollment and Spending Increases. A November 12th report from the National Governor’s Association and National Association of State Budget Officers finds that states continue to cut expenditures, and still face $14.5 billion in budget shortfalls in FY 2010 and at least $21.9 billion in funding gaps for FY 2011. Medicaid Is projected to grow at a rate of 6.6% in FY 2010. The reports are available at http://www.nga.org/ Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Wisconsin: State May Need to Cut $1 Billion From State Medicaid Programs. Over the next eighteen months, the state may be forces to make cuts to BadgerCare Plus, Family Care, SeniorCare, and other programs. For months, the state has been working to find approximately $608 million over the next two years. The state has identified 66 cost-saving measures so far, hoping to avoid service cuts or reductions in provider reimbursements. One of the largest savings will come from one-time accounting changes, delaying payments until the new state budget beings in July 2011. The shortfall is coming when more state residents are seeking to enroll in the programs because of the economy. About 700,000 residents were enrolled in BadgerCare Plus as of November 30th—nearly 70,000 more than in January 2009. The sharp increase in program enrollment will force the state to find an additional $450 million in savings or make program cuts. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

Oklahoma: State Board Cuts $17M from Medicaid Program. On December 10th, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority board voted unanimously to make cuts in services that may affect 700,000 SoonerCare beneficiaries. The cuts, which will take effect January 1st, come after Governor Brad Henry (D) and the state Legislature ordered state agencies to reduce the remainder of the year's budget by 5%. At present, the Authority’s board did not vote to reduced provider reimbursement rates, but those reductions could be on the table if budget issues remain. Read more!

Wics: Around the States

Louisiana: State Facing $306 Million Medicaid Shortfall. To make up for a mid-year shortfall, the state plans to dip into one-time revenue sources and cut mental health, public health, and prescription drugs, the state Department of Health and Hospitals announced in mid-November. The Department attributed to the mid-year shortfall to treating the H1N1 epidemic , to community-based programs for individuals with disabilities, which are over-budget by $44 million, and the economic downturn, which has added 22,000 to the state Medicaid rolls since July 1st. Read more!

WICS Live: Around the States

California: State Seeks to Restructure Medi-Cal Waiver Through 1115 Waiver. The state announced last month that it intends to seek a waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program. The waiver would replace the state’s current Section 1115 Waiver, which is set to expire August 31, 2010. In addition to slowing the growth of spending, the goals of the overhaul include creating a more accountable, streamlined system of care, reward quality, and expand coverage to uninsured residents. A core component of the plan is to reduce expenditures for “high-cost beneficiaries” and provide better coordinated care to these individuals and well as people with disabilities, children with special health care needs, and dually eligible individuals. A draft of the waiver proposal is available online at http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/WaiverRenewal.aspx Read more!

Ask Senator Reid to Include Direct Care Workers as a High Priority for the National Health Care Workforce Commission in Health Reform

As the Senate continues to sort out its health reform bill, ANCOR asks you to call on your Senators to ensure that the direct care workforce, which includes DSPs, is designated as a "high priority" research area for the proposed National Health Care Workforce Commission. The Senate health reform bill already contains a provision that establishes a National Health Care Workforce Commission, but we need to make sure DSPs aren’t left out from this Commission’s work!

Ask your Senators: Urge Senator Reid to include the Kohl, Casey, Feingold amendment in the final Senate health care legislation designating the direct care workforce as a high priority research area for the proposed National Health Care Workforce Commission. This no-cost amendment will ensure that the Commission will review the current and projected workforce needs of direct care workers and provide comprehensive recommendations to Congress and the Administration on how best to align direct care workforce resources with our national needs.

Use ANCOR’s Action Center to call your Senator.

Please contact Jessica Sadowsky (jsadowsky@ancor.org) or Mary Pauline Jones (mpjones@ancor.org) if you have any questions.

Read more!

Senate Health Care Reform Floor Debate at Standstill; Additional Provisions Unknown

The Senate Democrat’s race to pass a health care reform bill by Christmas is on hold while the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzes their latest batch of proposals to be considered as part of a “manger’s amendment.” The CBO analysis will likely not be completed before next week. Deep secrecy surrounds the manager’s amendment provisions and discussions about unresolved aspects of the health reform bill. The amendment may address concerns of moderate Democrats in components that have yet to be worked out. It is likely that statutory language for a new Federal option managed by the Office of Personnel Management and a new Medicare buy in for individuals age 55-64 will be included. Provisions related to employers’ role in health coverage are also rumored to be included. Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) will not bring the bill to a vote until he has secured 60 senators to vote in favor of the legislation. Read more!