By: Sara Murray | WSJ Like nearly every other governor, Maine's new Republican leader is trying to tame the cost of Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health insurance to the poor. He just doesn't know if Washington will let him—even though Maine has among the most generous programs in the country. Medicaid was created in 1965 to provide health coverage for the poorest Americans, particularly those with children. States pay, on average, 43% of the tab for … [Read more...]
Florida Senators May Cut Optional Medicaid Services
February 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
MIAMI (AP) — Florida Senate leaders may propose cutting dentistry, optometry and mental health services for Medicaid patients as they try to curb the program's budget, which is expected to top $21 billion next year. The emerging Senate bill calls for making cuts in so-called optional services as well as increasing reimbursement rates and limiting legal liabilities for primary care doctors. Although the increased reimbursement rates would cost more, senators want to encourage primary … [Read more...]
Double-digit Medicaid growth pile-drives Texas budget
January 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Caralyn Davis Not only is Texas facing a shortfall of $11 billion to $15 billion when the next state budget is due in 2011, but unanticipated healthcare costs have already driven the state's current two-year budget, just six months after passage, into the red as well, reports the Dallas Morning News. Medicaid is the primary culprit, accounting for $1.3 billion of the deficit. Other offenders include health coverage for state employees ($142 million); correctional managed healthcare … [Read more...]
GOP invokes 1700s doctrine in health care fight
January 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
John Miller | Associated Press BOISE, Idaho – Republican lawmakers in nearly a dozen states are reaching into the dusty annals of American history to fight President Obama's health care overhaul. They are introducing measures that hinge on "nullification," Thomas Jefferson's late 18th-century doctrine that purported to give states the ultimate say in constitutional matters. GOP lawmakers introduced such a measure Wednesday in the Idaho House, and Alabama, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, … [Read more...]
