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Centene’s takeover of WellCare: What would it mean for kids and families covered by Medicaid?
On March 27, the Centene Corporation announced it would acquire WellCare Health Plans, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at $17.3 billion. The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as state regulators. The companies “expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2020.” For…
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New Research Documents Health Benefits of Medicaid Expansion
We like to review the research here at CCF and that certainly goes for papers examining the effects of Medicaid expansion. I pulled together a quick overview of that research last year and recently my colleague, Lauren Roygardner, has highlighted an impressive study showing Medicaid expansion improves access to treatments for opioid addiction. The studies…
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Florida lawmakers weigh Medicaid work requirements
Fox 35 News Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. Members of a House health care panel this week approved the proposal (HB 955), which is now…
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Idaho becomes 2nd state to support scaled-back Medicaid expansion
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer Idaho’s governor has signed off on a scaled-back Medicaid expansion plan, making it the second state to retool what expansion might look like after a voter mandate. … Utah, meanwhile, is planning to only expand its Medicaid program to people making 100% of poverty, lower than the maximum level allowed…
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Lawmakers Weigh Medicaid Work Requirements
WLRN Miami Florida lawmakers are considering requiring an estimated 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to work or show they are trying to get jobs to keep their health-care benefits, despite recent court rulings that have struck down similar requirements. … The proposed work requirement would hit low-income adults who have children. “The true intent of this bill…
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Louisiana Launches Pilot Work Promotion Program Instead of Punitive Work Reporting Requirements
Gov. John Bel Edwards in Louisiana should be commended. Not only did he fulfil a campaign promise to expand Medicaid to thousands of Louisianans, but now he has launched a positive work support pilot program for Medicaid beneficiaries. Positive work support initiatives illustrate there are better ways to assist Medicaid enrollees in improving their employment…
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Who’s Minding the Store for Tennessee Children Relying on Medicaid and CHIP?
When I began my career as a children’s advocate in the 90s, Tennessee led the nation in the percentage of its children with health insurance. It was a proud moment for our poor Southern state that was brought about by the vision and political effectiveness of Democrat Governor Ned Ray McWhether and by the courage…
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Where Does the Trump Administration’s Medicaid Waiver Policy Go Next?
Last week was a busy week with a federal court vacating both Arkansas and Kentucky’s Medicaid Section 1115 waivers on Wednesday and the Trump Administration approving Utah’s partial expansion waiver with a work requirement and an enrollment cap on Friday—but without the full expansion match. (Read more on Utah past and present). Given the immediate…
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Despite rulings, Medicaid work requirement leaves 16,000 Arkansans without health care
NBC News By: Phil McCausland At 40, Adrian McGonigal had the best job of his career working in the shipping department of Southwest Poultry in Pea Ridge, Arkansas — a town of about 5,700. He’d suffered from a slew of serious medical conditions, but thanks to the state’s decision to expand Medicaid, he was able…
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Suicide Risk Grew After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted To Managed Care, Hospitals Say
Kaiser Health News By: Phil Galewitz After more than 2,000 Missouri children diagnosed with mental illness were shifted from traditional Medicaid into three for-profit managed-care companies, the state’s hospitals noticed an alarming trend: a doubling in the percentage who had thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide. … Joan Alker, director of the Georgetown University Center…
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Trump Administration Approves Medicaid Work Requirements in Utah
New York Times By: Robert Pear Just two days after a federal court struck down work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries in Arkansas and Kentucky, the Trump administration approved similar requirements in Utah on Friday. … Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, a Republican, welcomed approval of the state program, describing it as “an important first…
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States likely to stay the course on Medicaid work requirements despite judge’s ruling, experts say
Fierce Healthcare By: Paige Minemyer A federal judge’s ruling Wednesday that blocked Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas has limited implications in states where similar programs have also been approved—at least, for now. … Andy Schneider, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCort School of Public Policy, told FierceHealthcare that Boasberg made clear…
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States vow to press on with Medicaid work requirements
CNN By: Tami Luhby Arkansas and Kentucky officials are vowing to continue the fight to implement work requirements in their Medicaid programs despite a US District Court judge striking down the mandates. … Consumer advocates, however, argue that work requirements hurt people’s ability to rise out of poverty. “Taking people’s health care away does not…
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How Republicans Have Used a Phony Audit to Smear Medicaid Expansion in Louisiana
Bayou Brief By: Lamar White Jr. On Nov. 8th, 2018, less than a month before the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) debuted their state-of-the-art system for Medicaid enrollment, a total overhaul that transformed the inefficient method in place since Edwin Edwards’ final term as governor, the state legislative auditor, Daryl Purpera, published “Medicaid Eligibility: Wage…
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Arkansas governor urges fight for work requirement
Arkansas Democrat Gazette By: Andy Davis Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday that he has urged federal officials to quickly appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down the work requirement for Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion program. In the meantime, he said, legislators should approve Senate Bill 99, which authorizes spending on the state’s Medicaid program, including the…
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Affordable Care Act Back in the Spotlight: Build on its Progress or Scrap it Entirely
It is hard to find a starker example of the different approaches our two political parties take to health care than the events of March 26, 2019. The day started with headlines about the Trump administration’s push to have the Affordable Care Act (ACA) declared unconstitutional, and ended with Democratic legislators in the U.S. House introducing a bill that…
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When Early Childhood Educators are Covered, Kids Win: Stories from North Carolina
If you, like me, have the peace of mind of knowing that your toddler or preschooler is well cared for and supported while you’re at work, you probably know already that you’re incredibly fortunate. I am grateful every day for the many early childhood teachers who make the safety, educational success, and wellbeing of a…
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Medicaid work requirements: What’s next?
Politico By: Dan Diamond … “The judge’s ruling is a wake-up call for states considering work requirements or other barriers to coverage in Medicaid,” Joan Alker, head of Georgetown’s Center for Children & Families, told PULSE. “The ruling also makes clear that Secretary Azar does not have unlimited waiver authority — wishing does not make…
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Trump Administration Encouraging States to Make Controversial Changes to Medicaid
The Fiscal Times By: Yuval Roseberg The Trump administration is encouraging red states to make controversial conservative changes to Medicaid without seeking congressional approval, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports. … “To approve it the day after the court hearing was pretty in-your-face,” Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families,…
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Medicaid Work Requirements Could Hit Rural Hospitals
National Journal By: Erin Durkin The Trump administration’s push to add work requirements to Medicaid could pile onto the funding woes of struggling rural hospitals, possibly even adding to the numbers that end up closing their doors. … “Rural communities have more at stake in these debates because not only do they tend to have…
