Media Coverage

Oregon Public Broadcasting January 18, 2012 Oregon’s efforts to get kids signed up for state-sponsored health care stand out among the states, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Many states are trying to streamline enrollment procedures to prepare for new federal health care laws that will take effect by 2014. Read…

Government Health IT January 18, 2012 More than one half of states expanded and simplified their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs eligibility, enrollment and renewal procedures in 2011, often using technology to streamline and automate processes. That efficiency helped states to continue their coverage for low-income adults and children at the same level as…

McKnight’s January 18, 2012 Despite heavily burdened state budgets, states’ Medicaid eligibility and enrollment was stable during 2011, thanks partly to the Affordable Care Act, a new report finds. Without the ACA’s requirement that states maintain current eligibility requirements, many states would have instituted Medicaid cuts to stay afloat, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s…

National Journal January 18, 2012 The number of Americans getting their insurance from Medicaid or the Childrens Health Insurance Program remained stable in 2011, despite a recession that strained state budgets and pushed more people into poverty, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation released on Wednesday. Read the Full Article

The Gainesville Sun January 15, 2012 Asked if she could afford $30 a month to keep her three children current on the state’s insurance for low-income Floridians, Andrea Powers said she was uncertain. “Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t,” said the Gainesville stay-at-home mom. An academic exercise from Georgetown University that was released last month…

The Connecticut Mirror January 13, 2012 Connecticut’s child welfare agency spends $16.4 million a year on mental and behavioral health services, a sum that translates to about $30,000 for each child. The problem, says the Department of Children and Families, is that one of every five children has private health insurance that is not covering…

Georgia Health News January 11, 2012 Next week, a highly anticipated report on the Georgia Medicaid program’s future is scheduled to be released. The analysis, by the consulting firm Navigant, is expected to take a hard look at the way the state runs its managed care program. The program covers more than 1 million low-income…

Politico January 10, 2012 Twenty-six states on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn the health care reform law’s mandatory state expansion of the Medicaid program, a sleeper issue in the health care reform lawsuit that could determine how much leverage the federal government has with the states on any issue. Read the Full Article

Associated Press December 27, 2011 ATLANTA (AP) — Just as Medicaid prepares for a vast expansion under the federal health care overhaul, the 47-year-old entitlement program for the poor is under increasing pressure as deficit-burdened states chip away at benefits and cut payments to doctors. View Full Article

American Medical News December 19, 2011 Washington — The number of uninsured children decreased significantly in recent years, largely because Medicaid started covering more kids who otherwise would have remained uninsured. But state leaders are concerned that budget deficits will continue in the near future because of a weak economic recovery and steadily increasing Medicaid…

Newsworks December 16, 2011 Pennsylvania has cut more than 130,000 people from its Medicaid rolls since July, more than a third of them children. The state says it has been targeting waste, fraud and abuse, but advocates say those who have a legitimate claim on health insurance are getting the ax. Read the Full Article

Since August, the Corbett administration has cut off more than 150,000 people – including 43,000 children – from medical assistance in a drive to save costs. That purge far exceeds what any other state has tried, health policy experts say, and officials may be walking a fine line between rooting out waste and erecting barriers…

Stateline December 14, 2011 Like many other states in fiscal duress, Florida sliced a large portion of its Medicaid budget this fiscal year, primarily by cutting payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers. Next year, Governor Rick Scott wants to double the size of reductions to the federal-state program — again by…

Kaiser Health News December 9, 2011 Like other states, Florida is feeling squeezed by the soaring cost of Medicaid. But its response is drawing fire from hospitals, and the Obama administration may be pushing back. Republican Gov. Rick Scott this week proposed to slash Florida’s spending in the joint state-federal health insurance program for the…

Orlando Sentinel December 9, 2011 Proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid plan, including one that would charge Florida’s beneficiaries $10 a month per family member for coverage, could lead to 800,000 parents and children leaving the program, according to a report released Dec. 7 from the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University. View the Full…

Florida Center for Investigative Reporting December 9, 2011 Ten dollars may not seem like much money. Most Floridians — certainly most adult Floridians – would probably jump at the chance to pay $10 a month to get some basic healthcare. But what happens when poor families with multiple children – families already struggling to pay…

Health New Florida December 7, 2011 About 800,000 people may be forced out of the state’s Medicaid program if they must pay the $10 per month premium proposed by the Florida Legislature last spring, according to a report released today. More than 660,000 of those who lose coverage are likely to be children, says the…

Stateline December 7, 2011 When the national health law was enacted early last year, it contained one seemingly technical provision that few people noticed. It lifted a ban on state employees enrolling their kids in the federally subsidized Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). In fact, that was no small move. It promised relief from a…

The Miami Herald December 7, 2011 New premiums and copay proposals for Florida Medicaid beneficiaries, including $100 for every non-emergency ER visit, are among the highest in the country and a new study warns it could cause hundreds of thousands to drop out because they can’t afford to pay them, according to a report released…