House health bill includes Medicaid relief for states, By Aaron C. Davis, November 16, 2009, Washington Post: “Wedged in the House health-care bill is $23.5 billion that looks a lot more like new federal stimulus spending than anything to do with national health-care reform. The barely debated pot of money would allow Congress to continue pumping billions in new short-term aid to states to cover Medicaid costs that have increased with rising unemployment in the past year. The potential impact of the new spending became clear last week when giddy state budget officials in capitals from Annapolis to Sacramento penciled in the revenue, hoping that if health-care legislation survives in the Senate, the states’ bonus might squeak through. Medicaid relief for states comprised one of the biggest pieces of February’s $787 billion federal stimulus package, but that funding will run out next year, halfway through states’ next round of spending plans…”

Hospitals cite worry on fees in health bill, By Anemona Hartocollis, November 2, 2009, New York Times: “As Congress struggles to rein in health care costs as part of its sweeping reform efforts, hospitals in New York City and other urban areas that provide some of the most expensive care are among the primary targets. The issue pits hospitals in more rural states like Iowa and Minnesota, where spending tends to be lower, against those in areas like New York and Los Angeles, and revolves around a question that has bedeviled the medical establishment for decades: How much money do hospitals need to provide adequate care for patients, especially poor people who have not had regular access to health care…”

• Medicaid, S-CHIP expansion plan could hurt states’ budgets, By Richard Wolf, October 18, 2009, USA Today: “The government programs that provide health care to the poor would expand to cover nearly one in five Americans under health insurance legislation pending in Congress, putting pressure on federal and state budgets. Medicaid, one of the fastest-growing government programs for two decades, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program would grow from about 50 million people today to more than 60 million in 2019, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office and Kaiser Family Foundation. That would be the biggest single expansion since Medicaid was created in 1965…”
• Medicaid expansion brings pro, con reactions, By Emily Bregel, October 19, 2009, Chattanooga Times Free Press: “Local physicians said health care reform proposals to expand Medicaid coverage drastically, while well-intentioned, are likely unsustainable. ‘Where is the money going to come from to make this happen?’ said Dr. Mack Worthington, a family practice physician in Chattanooga who said almost one-quarter of his patients are on TennCare. ‘I’m all for increasing access, but I just wonder how it’s going to be funded.’ The U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week passed a health reform proposal that would expand Medicaid programs to anyone who earns up to 133 percent of the poverty level, or about $29,000 a year for a family of four…”
• Uninsured & overwhelmed, By Ben Piper, October 18, 2009, Hattiesburg American: “Casey Little finds herself in a health care predicament. Little, 25, of Seminary needs health insurance to be able to afford treatments that could relieve the pain she suffers from fibromyalgia. But the nerve disorder has left her constantly hurting, unable to work - and unable to get insurance…”
• Pressure mounts: 12,000 caught in a backlog, By Andra Bryan Stefanoni, October 19, 2009, Joplin Globe: “When Candice Sinclair was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she applied for Medicaid to cover her expenses and those of her soon-to-be-born son, Jake. That was in June. Their applications still haven’t been processed, meaning Sinclair is left without means to pay an estimated $5,000 hospital bill, and for Jake’s first year of immunizations and checkups…”
• Kansas has backlog of 12,000 Medicaid applications, Associated Press, October 19, 2009, Kansas City Star: “Rising unemployment, the swelling ranks of the uninsured, outdated technology and the state’s budget problems have led to a backlog of 12,000 Medicaid applications in Kansas, health officials said. A contractor that processes applications for the Kansas Health Policy Authority is supposed to complete them in two to six weeks, but has taken up to four months in some cases…”
• Lessons from the Massachusetts healthcare experiment, By James Oliphant and Kim Geiger, October 17, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “Three years ago, Massachusetts passed the most sweeping healthcare bill in the country, adopting a plan that closely resembles the proposals being considered by Congress. It is a plan that now offers powerful lessons for the whole nation. The state’s system, like the proposals moving toward votes in the House and Senate, focused on three goals: making medical insurance almost universal, fostering competition through a regulated insurance exchange, and helping low-income workers pay for coverage. Today, Massachusetts leads the nation with 96% of its residents covered by insurance — an even larger share than some of the plans before Congress would cover. The employer-based insurance system remains intact despite fears that the state’s healthcare overhaul might cause companies to pull back…”

From healthy kids to healthy adults, By Megha Satyanarayana, October 12, 2009, Detroit Free Press: “Jamel Bomer of Redford Township, a Westin Book Cadillac valet, is the father of a 1-year-old on Medicaid. ‘He can go to any doctor that accepts it,’ Bomer said of son Ryan. ‘Without it, we wouldn’t be able to provide him care.’ Even with publicly funded Medicaid, which many doctors don’t take, Bomer and his fiancée are working off a $230 bill for the part of Ryan’s birth that wasn’t covered on Bomer’s $5.15 per hour plus tips. ‘Our income is tight to the penny.’ Although Ryan is covered, neither Bomer nor his fiancée, a TV news intern, have insurance. While Congress and the president debate over comprehensive health care reform, local and national experts say making sure all children have coverage now will mean they have a better chance of growing into healthy adults who will be less of a burden on the health care system…”

• ‘Shockingly wide’ health gaps among states, By Rita Rubin, October 8, 2009, USA Today: “A new ’scorecard’ lists ’shockingly wide variations’ among the states when it comes to the health of their residents, says the president of the Commonwealth Fund, which compared such factors as access to care, insurance coverage and avoidable hospital admissions. ‘The differences we see among the states translate to real lives and real dollars,’ Karen Davis said Wednesday at a news conference…”
• Report shows healthcare disparities among states, By Andrew Zajac, October 7, 2009, Chicago Tribune: “Even as state and federal initiatives have extended a medical safety net beneath children in recent years, more and more adult Americans have been living without insurance coverage - compounding the already-serious problems of the healthcare system and fueling sharp disparities in the cost and quality of care across the country. Those disparities, graphically documents in state-by-state rankings released Wednesday by the non-partisan Commonwealth Fund, underscored one of the biggest challenges in designing a healthcare overhaul: The nation doesn’t have one system and one reality, it has at least 50 - each with its own economic, social and demographic characteristics…”

• Reports predict increasing financial burden from health care, By Brian Tumulty, September 30, 2009, Elmira Star-Gazette: “New York’s Medicaid program will experience a financial crisis if Congress doesn’t enact health care legislation, according to two studies released Wednesday. Ten years from now, state officials could face a 93 percent rise in the cost of providing Medicaid services to adults and related health services to children from low-income families, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute predict in one report…”
• Medicaid crisis looms for state, By Jerry Zremski, October 1, 2009, Buffalo News: “New York, which has continued to expand Medicaid while other fiscally pressed states trimmed benefits, now faces a potential double whammy of federal-level changes that could cost the state health care program for the poor nearly $6 billion in 2011 alone. The state’s deficit, projected at $7 billion in the fiscal year beginning next April, is projected to grow to $13 billion a year later…”
• Nearly a quarter of Florida residents have no health insurance, By Drew Harwell and Andy Boyle, October 2, 2009, St. Petersburg Times: “Lawrence Rill, an out-of-work Clearwater tradesman, was preparing to donate plasma when a nurse gave him the news: His blood pressure was dangerously high and his body was in ’stroke mode.’ Rill, 50, needed prompt medical attention. But he hasn’t been able to afford health insurance for 15 years. Even when times were better, and he was working at Home Depot, the weekly $75 premium would have eaten up a fifth of his paycheck. Sound familiar? Florida has the second-lowest rate of health insurance for people younger than 65 in the country, trailing only Texas, a new U.S. Census survey shows. Excluding Medicare-eligible senior citizens, one in four Floridians lives without any form of medical coverage…”

• Proposing a public health option as a ’safety net’, By Robert Pear, September 19, 2009, New York Times: “Senator Olympia J. Snowe, a pivotal Republican, described on Saturday the changes she wanted to see in a comprehensive health care bill to make insurance more affordable, and she proposed a government insurance company as a possible backup to the private market if coverage remains too costly. Ms. Snowe’s proposal was among 564 amendments filed in the last couple of days by members of the Senate Finance Committee, which plans to take up the legislation this week as the struggle over health care enters a critical new phase…”
• How health overhaul would affect the uninsured, By Christopher Weaver, September 21, 2009, National Public Radio: “How many Americans are uninsured? According to the Census Bureau, in 2008, more than 46 million Americans - about 15 percent of the population - did not have health insurance. Because of the recession, many experts believe the number is now larger. Who are the uninsured? Income is a strong factor in identifying the uninsured. About two-thirds of uninsured Americans earn less than twice the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Almost 25 percent of the uninsured are poor enough to be eligible for Medicaid but are not enrolled…”
• Uninsured take a toll on all North Texans, By Robert T. Garrett and Jason Roberson, September 20, 2009, Dallas Morning News: “Up to one-third of Dallas-area residents don’t have health insurance, and the number is rising. Everybody in North Texas pays the cost, through taxes and higher insurance costs - as much as $1,800 per family. Illegal immigrants pump up the numbers. But even if there weren’t any here, Texas still would virtually lead the nation in percentage of residents without health insurance, according to both conservative and liberal researchers. And Dallas County is close on Harris County’s heels as the major metro county with the lowest rate of health insurance coverage…”

Cost of racial disparities in health care put at $229 billion between 2003, 2006, By Kelly Brewington, September 18, 2009, Baltimore Sun: “Racial health disparities cost the United States $229 billion between 2003 and 2006 - money that could help cover an overhaul of the nation’s health care system, according to a new report by Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland researchers. Minorities are generally sicker and more likely than whites to die of numerous diseases, and until now, medical experts and advocates fighting to close those gaps have made their pleas on moral grounds. But the new figures aim to break down the issue into dollars and cents at a time when everyone is trying to figure out how to rein in soaring health care costs…”

Will safety net hospitals survive health reform?, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), September 3, 2009, San Jose Mercury News: “Janie Johnson has no health insurance, so when she cut her toe while giving herself a pedicure, she limped to the emergency room at one of Chicago’s safety net hospitals and waited her turn. ‘I’m 44, but I probably look about 55 right now,’ Johnson joked in Stroger Hospital’s emergency department where more than 100 patients sat waiting. Urgent cases, from chest pains to gunshot wounds, are rushed to doctors first. Johnson was glad to have somewhere to go for health care. ‘I don’t know what I would do’ without the hospital, she said. ‘My health would probably get worse.’ To all the knotty issues involved in health care overhaul, add one more: The proposals in Congress may threaten the funding and future of the nation’s already-struggling safety net hospitals…”

A Milwaukee clinic fills a need but faces failure, By Kevin Sack, September 1, 2009, New York Times: “Like many low-income neighborhoods, the north side of Milwaukee has seen a gradual depletion of its primary care doctors over the last two decades. One by one, they have retired or surrendered to financial reality, rarely to be replaced. At the few remaining practices, the wait for an appointment can make it almost purposeless to seek one. When Martha Brown’s 3-year-old daughter, Loverree, woke up with a runny nose last Thursday, her doctor’s office told her it would be a week. ‘I couldn’t wait,’ Ms. Brown said. ‘I had to see what was wrong with my baby. I think she’s got an infection.’ Rather than heading to an emergency room, Ms. Brown took her three children to the Milwaukee Immediate Care Center, a small nonprofit clinic that has treated the north side’s largely African-American community since 1986. The clinic, which keeps hours at night and on weekends, is the only full-time operation in the neighborhood that provides urgent care, luring patients with a sign that reads, ‘When You Need a Doctor Today…’”

Massachusetts cuts back immigrants’ health care, By Abby Goodnough, August 31, 2009, New York Times: “State-subsidized health insurance for 31,000 legal immigrants here will no longer cover dental, hospice or skilled-nursing care under a scaled-back plan that Gov. Deval Patrick announced Monday. Mr. Patrick said his administration had struggled to find a solution ‘that preserves the promise of health care reform’ after the state legislature cut most of the $130 million it had previously allotted immigrants, to help close a budget deficit. Although their health benefits will be sharply curtailed in some cases, Mr. Patrick portrayed the new program as a victory, saying the services that the affected group tends to use the most will still be covered…”

Debit cards reward Medicaid patients for care, By Tom Murphy (AP), August 31, 2009, Washington Post: “Some Indiana Medicaid patients can now earn money to spend on health care simply by visiting the doctor or seeking routine preventive care. Managed Health Services on Monday announced a new debit card program that rewards patients for making regular trips to the doctor, taking their babies in for checkups and getting screened for several conditions. Participants can earn between $10 and $20 on their cards for each visit or screening. They can then use the funds to buy health-related items like cough syrup or thermometers…”

Even with coverage of two major plans, some Oregonians struggle to get health care, By Andy Dworkin, August 19, 2009, The Oregonian: “Little noticed in the debate on public medical insurance and health reform is a group of 55,000 Oregonians covered by two major public health plans. The so-called ‘dual eligibles’ qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid because they have low incomes and are disabled or over 64. About 9 million Americans have both Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and they tend to be poorer, sicker, less educated and more often women or minorities than other citizens. As some Democrats push Congress to create a national public health insurance option, the dual eligibles show both benefits and pitfalls expanded public coverage could bring. On one hand, dual eligibility gives fairly complete insurance to poor, sick people who can’t afford private insurance, and would likely be rejected by most private plans for their existing health problems. But caring for dual eligibles costs upward of $200 billion a year. And some people covered by both plans still have trouble finding doctors or buying prescriptions — proof that expanding insurance coverage isn’t enough to lower costs or improve health care, two other, competing goals of health reform…”

• Auditors warn Utah Medicaid is likely wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, By Heather May, August 18, 2009, Salt Lake Tribune: ” Millions of tax dollars are likely being wasted in Utah’s Medicaid program on procedures — including a breast augmentation and nose jobs — that aren’t covered by the government insurance program, according to a scathing legislative audit released Tuesday. Millions more are lost because the Medicaid department isn’t adequately going after providers who submit fraudulent bills. And while there are three sets of internal auditors charged with overseeing the department and its $1.7 billion budget, none are independent enough to do their jobs appropriately, the report says…”
• Audit says Utah losing millions to Medicaid fraud, waste, By Lana Groves, August 18, 2009, Deseret News: “Legislators are appalled over the results of an audit reporting the state Medicaid system is losing millions because of an outdated system. The state audit released Tuesday found that the Utah Department of Health’s Bureau of Program Integrity, which checks for fraud, waste and abuse within the state Medicaid program, is mismanaged and failed on several occasions to follow policy regarding cost-saving methods…”

Government extends SeniorCare through 2012, By Stacy Forster, August 18, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The federal government will extend SeniorCare, the state’s popular prescription drug program, through 2012, Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday. SeniorCare is an alternative to the federal Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan for low-income residents aged 65 and older, and it is the only program of its kind in the country. The state program was to end Dec. 31. Doyle and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation had asked President Barack Obama’s administration to extend the program for three years…”

• Reach of subsidies is critical issue for health plan, By Robert Pear, July 26, 2009, New York Times: “The major health care bills moving through Congress would require nearly all Americans to have health insurance. But as lawmakers struggle to achieve the goal of universal coverage, a critical question is whether the plans will be affordable to those who are currently uninsured…”
• Small business owners wary of health reform, By Guy Boulton, July 26, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Dianne Wonder, owner of Alpha-Omega Cleaning in New Berlin, has followed the debate over health care reform closely through a variety of media outlets and e-mails from her representatives in Congress. ‘I find it very difficult to know what to believe because there is so much conflicting information,’ Wonder said.  But she knows this: A payroll tax on employers who don’t provide health benefits would increase her business’ costs…”
• Hawaii law mandates health coverage, By Mark Niesse (AP), July 27, 2009, Charlotte Observer: “Hawaii’s 35-year-old mandate for companies to provide insurance to workers has brought something less than universal health care to the 50th state. President Obama’s home state poses some cautionary realities to any sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system as Congress considers a similar federal requirement that businesses provide health insurance to employees.  Since the law passed 35 years ago, the percentage of uninsured in Hawaii has fallen to lower levels than nearly every other state, but there are coverage gaps.  And cost-conscious business owners avoid the law by hiring more part-time workers, who aren’t required to be covered…”