• TennCare may curtail coverage to reduce costs, By Chas Sisk, November 19, 2009, The Tenneseean: “People covered by TennCare may face new limits on their coverage and reductions in their benefits next year, under a plan unveiled Wednesday to help slice state spending. TennCare officials said that they could impose a new $10,000 annual cap on hospital coverage for the 1.2 million state residents enrolled in the program…”
• NM considers scaling back Medicaid coverage, By Barry Massey (AP), November 20, 2009, Las Cruces Sun-News: “Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration is proposing to overhaul Medicaid and scale back health care services to some lower-income New Mexicans to cope with a projected budget shortfall of $300 million next year in the state’s largest health care program. Human Services Department officials told lawmakers on Thursday that Medicaid benefits and eligibility likely would be limited to minimum federal requirements, such as covering low-income pregnant woman and some children. A package of health care services would be available to other needy individuals-currently covered by Medicaid because the state has expanded eligibility-but they would need to pay premiums and copays. Those fees would vary based on income. The effort to trim Medicaid comes at a difficult financial time. The state faces a half billion budget shortfall next year…”

• Uninsured trauma patients are much more likely to die, By Karen Kaplan, November 17, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “Patients who lack health insurance are more likely to die from car accidents and other traumatic injuries than people who belong to a health plan — even though emergency rooms are required to care for all comers regardless of ability to pay, according to a study published today. An analysis of 687,091 patients who visited trauma centers nationwide from 2002 to 2006 found that the odds of dying from injuries were almost twice as high for the uninsured than for patients with private insurance, researchers reported in Archives of Surgery. Trauma physicians said they were surprised by the findings, even though a slew of studies had previously documented the ill effects of going without health coverage. Uninsured patients are less likely to be screened for certain cancers or to be admitted to specialty hospitals for procedures such as heart bypass surgery. Overall, about 18,000 deaths each year have been traced to a lack of health insurance…”
• Study: Injured uninsured more likely to die in ER, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), November 16, 2009, Idaho Statesman: “Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study. The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable. ‘This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States,’ said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist…”

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…”

• Unemployment tops 10 percent again _ and it’s tougher off the job than a generation ago, By Jeannine Aversa (AP), November 7, 2009, Chicago Tribune: “It hurts more to be unemployed now than the last time the jobless rate hit 10 percent. Americans have more than triple the debt they had in 1982, and less than half the savings. They spend 10 weeks longer off the job. And a bigger share of them have no health insurance, leaving them one medical emergency away from financial ruin. For these reasons, the unemployed are more vulnerable today to foreclosure and bankruptcy than they were a generation ago…”
• Debt levels leave low paid at risk of homelessness, By Nick Mathiason, November 11, 2009, The Guardian: “Britain’s 14.3 million low earners are in danger of being sucked into a whirlpool of poverty as official figures are expected to show today that the number of unemployed has passed through 2.5 million for the first time in 15 years. Research by the insurance tycoon Clive Cowdery’s thinktank, Resolution Foundation, shows low-income households - with an average of £15,800 at their disposal - are walking an increasingly precarious financial tightrope. It has found that 24% of low-wage households spend more than a quarter of their monthly income on debt - twice the number from three years ago. The study shows nearly a third of low-income households have high loan-to-value mortgages and are in negative equity, making them vulnerable to homelessness if they lose their job…”

• State’s poor being shifted to different medical plan, By Chen May Yee, November 10, 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune: “The Pawlenty administration, which faced criticism for proposing to eliminate a state health-care program for the indigent, has decided to transfer most of those recipients to a subsidized insurance plan for the working poor. The General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program for adults making less than $7,800 a year is scheduled to go away March 1, potentially leaving some 36,000 recipients — many with chronic illnesses and often homeless and mentally ill — without regular access to medical care. Now some 28,000 will be automatically enrolled in MinnesotaCare, a subsidized health insurance plan. The remainder are those whose GAMC eligibility is running out or who already are applying for MinnesotaCare…”
• More Alaska Medicaid kids may get braces, Associated Press, November 10, 2009, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: “The state of Alaska must pay for braces on the teeth of foster children and young people on Medicaid who need them, a Superior Court judge ruled Monday. Judge William Morse issued an order in a lawsuit brought by an advocacy group for foster children called Facing Foster Care in Alaska. He granted a preliminary injunction against a state rule that limits braces to severe conditions such as cleft palate. The state argued that Facing Foster Care does not have the right to bring a lawsuit. Morse disagreed and ruled the state cannot use its own regulations to limit services that are required by federal code. The braces still have to be medically necessary - not just for the sake of appearance…”
• KidCare numbers drop; Medicaid kids rise, By Bill McCarthy, November 9, 2009, Wyoming Tribune Eagle: “The number of children on Wyoming Kid Care CHIP is declining, but the number of children on Medicaid is going up. Bob Peck, chief financial officer for the Wyoming Department of Health, said one explanation could be that parents are losing their jobs. Formerly working parents who had their children on the Kid Care program for child health insurance may be having to enroll their families directly into Medicaid, he said…”

Ky. increases number of kids in health programs, By Beth Musgrave, November 3, 2009, Lexington Herald-Leader: “State officials said Monday that they are on target to enroll 35,000 children in two key public health programs by the end of 2009, six months ahead of schedule. In November 2008, Gov. Steve Beshear pledged to increase the number of children in Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program or Medicaid programs by decreasing some of the road blocks to the government health insurance program for low-income families. Currently, there are 32,000 new children enrolled in the two programs, Beshear said at a press conference Monday at Second Street School in Frankfort. But both programs combined have enrolled on average 2,600 children a month. Current rates indicate that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees the health insurance programs, will meet the 35,000 goal by December instead of June 2010, as originally projected…”

• 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…”

• Proposed Medicaid expansion could heap big costs on cash-poor California, By Mike Zapler, October 12, 2009, San Jose Mercury News: “An expansion of Medicaid contemplated by health care reformers in Congress may be good news for the uninsured, but it could be a bitter pill for cash-strapped California that would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars it doesn’t have. President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress want to use Medicaid as one of the main vehicles for extending health insurance to many of the 46 million Americans who lack coverage. But because Medicaid costs are split between the federal and state governments, California officials fear that this change would saddle California with a costly mandate at a time when the state can’t afford its existing Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal…”
• Lynch wary of Medicaid reform cost, By Daniel Barrick, October 12, 2009, Concord Monitor: “Gov. John Lynch is one of several governors raising concerns about the health care reform proposals being debated in Congress. Specifically, Lynch is worried that a plan to expand Medicaid, the government-run insurance program for the poor and elderly, will saddle state budgets with hefty costs. Pam Walsh, Lynch’s deputy chief of staff, said the governor supports the larger goal of expanding health care coverage, but he doesn’t think states should be stuck with the bill…”
• Medicaid keeps stretching, By Catherine Candisky, October 11, 2009, Columbus Dispatch: “The recession and continuing job losses are pushing Medicaid enrollment and spending to record levels, raising concerns about how Ohio will continue to meet the soaring demand. Every month, 10,000 to 15,000 Ohioans join the Medicaid rolls, most after losing their job and the employer-provided health insurance that came with it. Over the past 12 months, Ohio’s rolls increased by 154,000, the largest caseload growth in nearly seven years…”
• Expected $1B shortfall looms for Fla. Medicaid, By Lloyd Dunkelberger, October 10, 2009, Ocala Star-Banner: “Florida is heading for a cliff when it comes to Medicaid spending. The federal government has boosted its support for Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor and disabled, in Florida during the economic recession. But the extra funding is scheduled to dry up in December 2010, leaving Florida perhaps more than $1 billion short and facing the prospect of having to cut back critical medical services for some of the state’s poorest and sickest residents. Florida isn’t alone. A new report says the states, facing the loss of federal stimulus funding, may experience cuts ‘perhaps on a scale not ever seen in Medicaid…’”

• ‘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…”

• Governor lobbies for Medicaid expansion, By Michelle Saxton, October 6, 2009, Charleston Daily Mail: “A proposed expansion of Medicaid has some governors voicing concern about how states will afford greater coverage in a challenging economy, but Gov. Joe Manchin argues that an expansion focused on prevention will help reduce costs from uncompensated care. ‘You have to expand that to get people more involved in the system,’ Manchin said Monday. ‘We’re paying for them now anyway. People will wait and go to the emergency room when they get deathly ill or seriously ill at the highest cost,’ he said. ‘But if you get them into more of a managed type of care, showing them how to take action on the preventive side, you can really cut down the costs on the most expensive side. That’s the debate that’s going on…’”
• Expansion of Medicaid could impose costs on Ohio, By Jack Torry and Jonathan Riskind, October 7, 2009, Columbus Dispatch: “As Ohio officials try to close an $850 million budget hole, the key U.S. Senate health-care overhaul package could cost Ohio $922 million in additional Medicaid spending in the plan’s first five years. The health-care bill, which is expected to win the Senate Finance Committee’s approval this week, would add nearly 800,000 Ohio residents to the state’s Medicaid roll. The bill would do so by allowing a family of four with an annual income of up to $29,300 to be eligible for Medicaid coverage instead of the current limit of $22,050 for such a family…”
• Levine: Health bill hurts Medicaid, By Gerard Shields, October 7, 2009, Baton Rouge Advocate: “Louisiana’s top health official is criticizing a provision in the U.S. Senate’s health-care bill that would give four states, including that of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, full federal funding for increases in the Medicaid rolls. Louisiana would have to pay a 5 percent match for any new federal money for expansion of Medicaid amounting to $614 million over five years, said Alan Levine, secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals. ‘The cost to Nevada?’ Levine said. ‘Zero.’ The news of the provision comes at a time when Louisiana is struggling to get control of its Medicaid budget…”

Many children still don’t get Medicaid dental care, By Ann Sanner (AP), October 7, 2009, Tuscaloosa News: “Two years after a 12-year-old Maryland boy died from an untreated tooth infection, more low-income children are getting dental care under Medicaid but many still don’t ever see a dentist, government investigators said Wednesday. State officials told the Government Accountability Office that a lack of available funding, low provider participation and administrative burdens are some of the barriers to providing dental care to more children through Medicaid…”

• States resist Medicaid growth, By Shailagh Murray, October 5, 2009, Washington Post: “The nation’s governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents. The legislation the Senate Finance Committee is expected to approve this week calls for the biggest expansion of Medicaid since its creation in 1965. Under the Senate bill and a similar House proposal, a patchwork state-federal insurance program targeted mainly at children, pregnant women and disabled people would effectively become a Medicare for the poor, a health-care safety net for all people with an annual income below $14,404. Whether Medicaid can absorb a huge influx of beneficiaries is a matter of grave concern to many governors, who have cut low-income health benefits — along with school funding, prison construction, state jobs and just about everything else — to cope with the most severe economic downturn in decades…”
• Proposed Medicaid Expansion: Plan could be costly to Nevada, By Ed Vogel, October 5, 2009, Las Vegas Journal-Review: “The number of Nevadans receiving free medical care would nearly double by 2015 under provisions of the health care bill being developed in the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. A record 222,022 residents now receive medical care through the state-federal Medicaid program. That total would increase by 217,000 under the national health care bill, according to an analysis done by the state Health Care Financing and Policy Division. The move to expand Medicaid comes at a time when the state can least afford it, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has proposed an amendment to prevent Nevada from absorbing additional costs under the health care bill. But Charles Duarte, administrator of the division, is not convinced the amendment will be approved. If it fails, then Duarte said Nevada would be responsible for 13 percent to 18 percent of the costs of adding the 217,000 new Medicaid recipients, along with what it already pays for the current recipients. Providing Medicaid to Nevadans already costs the state about $1.5 billion a year, of which $450 million is state funds, Duarte said. Medicaid is the second most costly state government expenditure, trailing only the funding of public education…”

• 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…”

• Kentucky insures greater share of children, By Jere Downs, September 21, 2009, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Kentucky has provided health insurance for a greater share of its children than Indiana or the nation as a whole, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Ninety-three percent of the children in Kentucky had health insurance, greater than Indiana’s 82 percent and higher than the national average of 90 percent, the Census figures showed…”
• Census: Nevada leads nation in uninsured children, By Frank X. Mullen, Jr., September 23, 2009, Reno Gazette-Journal: “Nevada has a larger percentage of children without health insurance than any other state. And among the 75 percent of adult Nevadans covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, family insurance premiums have risen 97 percent since 1999 as wages increased an average of 43 percent. That’s the verdict of the Census Bureau’s American Community survey released Tuesday, the first time the annual update has included health insurance data…”
• Survey shows disparities in health care coverage for Minnesota kids, By Tim Nelson, September 22, 2009, Minnesota Public Radio: “Minnesota ranks third in the nation in the percentage of people who have health insurance, according to recent figures from the U.S. Census. But new survey data indicate some disparities around the state - particularly for kids. The Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey looked closely at health insurance coverage for the first time in 2008. Overall, Minnesota fared well, ranking behind only Massachusetts and Hawaii in the percentage of its population covered by health insurance…”

• Census data show recession-driven changes, By Sam Roberts, September 21, 2009, New York Times: “A smaller share of Americans married, drove to work alone, owned their own home or moved to a new residence last year than the year before. More lived in overcrowded housing. Property values declined. And fewer immigrants arrived, which meant that for the first time since the beginning of the decade, the total number of foreign-born people in the country did not grow. Those were among the findings released Monday in the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, a wealth of data comparing the nation’s profile in 2008 with that of 2007…”
• Census: Recession had sweeping impact on US life, By Hope Yen (AP), September 22, 2009, Washington Post: “A broad survey of Americans has provided striking measures of the recession’s effect on life at home and at work: People are now stuck in traffic longer, less apt to move away and more inclined to put off marriage and buying a house. The U.S. census data, released Monday, also show a dip in the number of foreign-born last year, to under 38 million after it reached an all-time high in 2007. This was due to declines in low-skilled workers from Mexico searching for jobs in Arizona, Florida and California…”
• 2008 Census data: Housing is getting even less affordable, By Stephanie Armour and Barbara Hansen, September 21, 2009, USA Today: “More Americans found housing unaffordable last year, even though home prices across the U.S. have taken a major fall. More than 40 million spent 30% or more of their household income on housing costs, 600,000 more than in 2007, according to 2008 Census data released Monday. That includes homeowners with and without mortgages, as well as renters. The number of renters increased, while the number of homeowners declined…”
• NE Ohio residents are poorer today than decade ago, census data shows, By Robert L. Smith, September 22, 2009, Cleveland Plain Dealer: ” If you feel poorer than yesteryear, well, you probably are. The typical family in Ohio saw its income drop sharply this decade, and Northeast Ohio families lost more than most. Even before the start of the Great Recession in December 2007, household incomes were in steady decline across the state and region, a Plain Dealer review of census data reveals. By the summer of 2008, the median household income in Ohio had plunged by 9 percent in the new millennium, more than double the national rate of decline…”
• Census report shows recession hammers Michigan, By John Flesher (AP), September 21, 2009, Chicago Tribune: “Michigan’s already dire economic plight only worsened as the recession kicked in, with incomes and home values plunging while fewer people had health insurance coverage, according to new U.S. census data. The report, for release on Tuesday, offers little hope for a quick turnaround in the state, even if the nationwide situation improves over the next year as some economists predict, demographic experts said…”

• 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…”

• Medicaid expansion stalls health talks, By Jennifer Haberkorn and Ralph Z. Hallow, September 15, 2009, Washington Times: “A proposed expansion of Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans, has emerged as one of the last sticking points in the Senate Finance Committee’s health care reform bill, with governors and state legislatures around the country worried they’re going to get left with the tab. Proposals in the House and Senate would expand Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, potentially putting millions of new people on the public health program for the poor younger than 65…”
• Congressional health plans could break state budget, By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener, September 12, 2009, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Gov. Mitch Daniels last week weighed into the national health care debate with a letter to Indiana’s congressional delegation that opposed the insurance reform plans currently under consideration. ‘There is no disputing the fact that aspects of American health care, such (as) access and affordability, truly do need to be restructured and improved,’ Daniels wrote. ‘Yet, I have serious concerns about Congress’ proposed solutions to these problems. In fact, I fear the current rush to overhaul the system will ultimately do more damage than good and create far more problems than it solves.’ But as described in his letter, Daniels’ opposition has as much to do with protecting the state’s finances as it does with political philosophy. In fact, Daniels is part of a group of governors and other state government leaders across the country who are trying to draw attention to a part of the health care debate that has been largely ignored – an expansion of Medicaid…”
• Congress should extend help with Medicaid, Editorial, September 15, 2009, Des Moines Register: “Billions in federal economic-stimulus dollars rescued state governments this year. The influx of money - about $2 billion in Iowa - helped this state avoid laying off workers and cutting vital programs. But another fiscal year is coming. Iowa was not among the states that raised taxes to generate revenue, and the federal stimulus money is almost gone. This state is facing a shortfall of between $900 million and $1 billion for the next budget year, and has about $133 million left in stimulus money. Everyone knew the federal help was temporary, and there is likely little political will in Washington for passing another stimulus package…”

• Rule limits reach of Iowa health program, By Nigel Duara (AP), September 14, 2009, Des Moines Register: “A state program offering health care to low-income adults without children is serving thousands of people who have never had health insurance, but more than half of those enrolling are from six Iowa counties. That’s because people seeking care through IowaCare can only go to the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City. The exception are people who live in Polk County, who can request a waiver to seek treatment at a Des Moines hospital. The situation has frustrated some hospital administrators and legislators, who call it unequal treatment that hurts patients and hospitals…”
• ALL Kids insurance program eligibility expands Oct. 1, By Phillip Rawls (AP), September 14, 2009, Montgomery Advertiser: “Many middle-class Alabama children will qualify for publicly funded health insurance starting Oct. 1 because the Legislature is expanding eligibility to cover families of four making up to $66,150 annually. ‘For so many middle-income families, it never entered their minds they would be eligible for a public program,’ Cathy Caldwell, who directs the ALL Kids health insurance program for the state Department of Public Health…”

Governors worry federal health reform could strain budgets in states with many poor, jobless, By Emily Wagster Pettus (AP), September 14, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “States with high levels of poverty and unemployment have been struggling with growing Medicaid budgets during the recession, and some governors worry their financial burdens could get worse as Congress works on a comprehensive health care bill. They’re especially worried about possible expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the needy and disabled…”

• Recession’s cost: More in poverty, without health coverage, By Tony Pugh, September 10, 2009, Miami Herald: “The early impact of the worst recession since the 1930s pushed median incomes down, forced millions more people into poverty and left more Americans without health care in 2008, according to new annual survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau…”
• Recession’s toll: more Americans in poverty, without health insurance, By Mike Swift and Steve Johnson, September 11, 2009, San Jose Mercury News: “Surveying the pain of the first full year of the recession, a new U.S. Census Bureau report shows that household income has dropped, millions more are in poverty - and for the eighth year in a row, fewer Americans are covered by private health insurance…”
• Recession takes a toll as US poverty surges, By Mark Trumbull, September 11, 2009, Christian Science Monitor: “America’s poverty rate surged upward last year, underscoring the toll of recession on ordinary households across the nation. Some 13.2 percent of Americans were living below the poverty line in 2008, the Census Bureau said Thursday. That’s a significant jump from the 12.5 percent poverty rate a year earlier. The rise means that nearly 40 million Americans are living in poverty, defined by incomes of less than $10,991 for an individual or $22,025 for a family of four…”
• Government programs helped control tally of uninsured, By Richard Wolf, September 10, 2009, USA Today: “The Census Bureau added some clarity Thursday to the fierce debate over government’s role in health care: Without government intervention, the number of uninsured would have soared last year. Though the 46.3 million people without health insurance in 2008 was slightly more than in 2007, private and employer-based insurance declined significantly. What made up the difference: Medicare, Medicaid and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program…”
• Rolls of privately insured Americans dip, census report says, By Bill Barrow, September 11, 2009, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “As Congress grapples with legislation that could expand health insurance coverage nationally, a U.S. Census Bureau report issued Thursday found that the number and percentage of Americans with private insurance fell from 2007 to 2008. The number of people with employer-based coverage also fell, while the rolls of government insurance programs increased. Altogether, the percentage of people without health insurance of any kind remained about the same, but the numbers reflect the correlation between a weakening economy and access to the private insurance market…”

• Poverty rate rose in 2008, Census finds, By Erik Eckholm, September 10, 2009, New York Times: “In the recession last year, the nation’s poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Census Bureau. The report also documented a decline in employer-provided health insurance and in coverage for adults. The rise in the poverty rate, to the highest level since 1997, portends even larger increases this year, which has registered far higher unemployment than in 2008, economists said…”
• Census: Income fell sharply last year, By Dennis Cauchon and Richard Wolf, September 10, 2009, USA Today: “Household income fell sharply and poverty rates rose in 2008 as the severe effects of the recession took their toll on Americans’ finances, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Median household income dropped 3.6% to $50,303 in 2008, the bureau reported. That was the sharpest drop since at least 1967 and sent income to its lowest point since 1997…”
• U.S. poverty rate hit 11-year high in 2008, By Don Lee, September 10, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “Reporting from Washington - Showing the scars of the deep recession last year, the nation’s poverty level jumped to an 11-year high, household incomes sank and the number of people without health insurance rose slightly to 46.3 million, the government reported today. The Census Bureau said that median household incomes fell 3.6% from 2007 to $50,303 last year. That was the biggest decline since 1991 and represented millions of job cuts by employers in 2008…”
• Growth of gov’t insurance outpaces private care, By Hope Yen and Frank Bass (AP), September 10, 2009, Houston Chronicle: “The number of Americans covered by government-sponsored health insurance plans surged to 87.4 million last year - or 29 percent of the U.S. population - amid a fierce, national debate about whether to create a new U.S.-run plan that any American could join. The number of people covered by federal Medicaid, Medicare and military insurance plans was an increase from 83 million in 2007, according to census figures released Thursday. It partially offset the eighth straight year of declines in the percentage of people with employer-provided plans and highlighted the growing role of a government-offered insurance safety net…”
• Decade of income growth lost, Census report finds, By Carol Morello, September 10, 2009, Washington Post: “The recession has erased an entire decade of growth in household incomes, according to a Census Bureau report released Thursday that also showed more Americans last year were living in poverty and without health insurance. Median household incomes sank 3.6 percent in 2008, to $50,303, and the nation’s poverty rate rose to 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007. In all, 39.8 million Americans were living in poverty, defined as $22,025 for a family of four. That was the highest number since 1960…”
• Recession takes heavy toll on U.S., By Conor Dougherty, September 10, 2009, Wall Street Journal: “The recession has slashed families’ earnings, increased poverty and left more people without health insurance, according to the Census Bureau’s annual snapshot of living standards, offering sharp evidence of how much the falling economy has touched Americans of every income and race. The report released Thursday showed median household income, adjusted for inflation, fell 3.6% last year to $50,303, the steepest year-over-year drop since at least 1967. The poverty rate, at 13.2%, was the highest since 1997, while about 700,000 more people were living without health insurance in 2008 than the year before, although the share of the population living without health insurance was about the same…”

• In New York City, poverty defined in new terms, By Pam Fessler, September 10, 2009, National Public Radio: “New census figures Thursday are expected to show that the poverty rate rose in 2008. But the government still measures poverty the same way it did more than 40 years ago, and many experts think that gives an inaccurate measure of what’s going on. New York City developed a new measure last year based on recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences that takes into account expenses such as child care and health care costs. The result, according to backers of the new formula, is a more realistic picture of today’s world. They’re pushing the federal government to make a similar change…”
• Another word for poverty, By Sarah Chacko, September 10, 2009, Baton Rouge Advocate: “In the coming weeks, the federal government will release 2008 data about family income and economic status. An obvious focus for many will be the poverty rate, the number of people who earn less than an established measure of income needed to cover a family’s basic needs. But in some circles, the word ‘poverty’ has become off limits. Nonprofit organizations and state agencies say they are ‘moving people to self-sufficiency’ or ‘empowering families,’ without mentioning economic status. Avoiding the word has apparently become an international trend too…”
• Move that line, By Dave Schechter, September 9, 2009, CNN.com: “On Thursday morning, the Census Bureau will release data expected to show a “statistically significant” increase in the national poverty rate, the percentage of Americans living below the government poverty line. Based on an Associated Press interview with a Commerce Department official, the expectation is that there will have been nearly 39 million Americans living below the poverty line in 2008 - an increase of more than 1.5 million from the year before - pushing the poverty rate up to at least 12.7 percent, if not higher. In reality, that number and that rate are something of a fraud. In the first decade of the 21st Century, the U.S. government still determines who is poor with a formula created in 1963-64 using data from 1955…”
• New figures on uninsured — but just how accurate are they?, By Kelly Brewington and Stephanie Desmon, Baltimore Sun: “The U.S. Census just released some surprising figures on the number of Americans without health insurance. The agency says the percentage of the uninsured did not grow between 2007 and 2008 — holding steady at 15.4 percent. Meanwhile, the number of uninsured people rose slightly 45.7 million to 46.3 million. During a monster recession, with rising unemployment and so many employers cutting health insurance to their workers — can those figures be right?…”

For Marylanders, insurance affordability will depend on subsidies, By Kelly Brewington, September 7, 2009, Baltimore Sun: “Even if lawmakers can agree on how to overhaul the nation’s health care system, the hope of universal coverage could crumble if individuals can’t afford their share. Take Howard County. Less than five months into an innovative program to give low-income people access to medical care for as little as $50 a month, nearly one in 10 participants is at risk of being cut off because they can no longer afford the cost. Howard officials say their fledgling program, called the Healthy Howard Access Plan, provides a cautionary lesson for federal policymakers battling over how to re-imagine the nation’s health care system and extend insurance to some 47 million Americans. While the major congressional proposals would require that nearly everyone have insurance or pay a penalty, low-income people could qualify for subsidies to help cover the cost of premiums. But lawmakers are wrangling over who would get financial help - and how much. If the subsidies fall short, millions of Americans could continue to struggle without health insurance, say advocates for the uninsured. Besides, if people in Howard County - among the richest localities in the nation - can’t manage $50 a month, how could those struggling elsewhere afford the plans under consideration in Washington that would require a much higher out-of-pocket cost?…”

Healthy Indiana Plan to reopen to childless adults, By Ken Kusmer (AP), September 1, 2009, Indianapolis Star: “Indiana wants to enroll more childless adults in its state-funded medical savings account program and will reopen enrollment for them in the future, a state consultant told lawmakers Tuesday. The federal government, when it approved the Healthy Indiana Plan, said the state could enroll no more than 34,000 childless adults, consultant Seema Verma told the Medicaid Oversight Commission. However, HIP has proven most popular among such non-caretaker adults, and the Family and Social Services Administration closed the program to that group in March. At the end of July, they made up more than 26,000 of the nearly 46,000 people enrolled, Verma said. The program, partially funded by the Medicaid program for needy and disabled people and a state cigarette tax increase, was designed to enroll a total of 130,000 people, mostly parents…”

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…”

Advocates push to include the homeless in Medicaid, By Pam Fessler, August 25, 2009, National Public Radio: “Most homeless people in America are too poor to buy their own health coverage, but many also don’t qualify for Medicaid, the government-run health program for the poor. Medicaid is mainly for people who have children or a disability, and most homeless people are childless adults. So, like 63-year-old Walter Brooks of Baltimore, they make do without insurance coverage…”

Minnesotans jam lines to join state health care plan, By Warren Wolfe, August 25, 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Applications for MinnesotaCare, the state’s insurance plan for the poor and working poor, have shot up 25 percent so far this year. The increase appears to reflect layoffs in a weak economy and the rising cost of health insurance, which has caused employers to drop coverage or shift more costs to employees. Last month alone, MinnesotaCare applications rose 43 percent from July 2008, reaching 5,473. The crush of applicants has doubled the time required to process applications, to eight weeks, and phone lines are often jammed because the agency that manages the program now answers the phone only between 12:30 and 4 p.m. so workers can spend more time on the paperwork backlog, officials acknowledged Monday…”

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…”

Study finds S.F. health plan didn’t hurt jobs, By Heather Knight, August 21, 2009, San Francisco Chronicle: “San Francisco’s first-of-its-kind universal health care program and its mandate that employers provide health care has not resulted in feared job losses, according to a new study by a UC Berkeley researcher. Crunching quarterly data from the U.S. Labor Department, the researcher found that since the inception of Healthy San Francisco’s employer mandate in 2008, the city’s growth rate across all employment sectors was similar to or better than other Bay Area counties. While San Francisco saw its employment rate shrink due to the struggling economy, it actually shrank less than other counties…”

Numbers of poor, uninsured projected to increase, Associated Press, August 19, 2009, New York Times: “The ranks of poor and uninsured Americans are likely increasing — with more than 38.8 million believed to be in poverty. Rebecca Blank, the Commerce Department’s undersecretary of economic affairs, spoke to The Associated Press in advance of next month’s closely watched release of 2008 census data. Noting the figures are not yet final, Blank said the numbers likely will show a “statistically significant” increase in the poverty rate, to at least 12.7 percent. That would represent a jump of more than 1.5 million poor people compared with the previous year. ‘There’s no question that 2008 economically was a much worse year than 2007,’ she said Wednesday. ‘The question is how much and how bad…’”

Health-care barriers overwhelm Nashville homeless, By Christina E. Sanchez, August 18, 2009, The Tennessean: “Robert Tucker kept having dizzy spells and felt weak a couple of months ago, but he didn’t see a doctor because he didn’t have health insurance or even a job. Tucker, who is homeless, finally went to the doctor after a former boss offered aid, and he learned he has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and hepatitis C. But as health-care workers say, the easy part of caring for the homeless like Tucker is diagnosing their condition. ‘The hard part is treating,’ said Mary Bufwack, CEO of United Neighborhood Health Services. ‘And we are seeing more people in the streets and more families in hotels…’”

BadgerCare Plus Core has huge enrollment backlog, By Diana Montaño, August 14, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The overwhelming demand for BadgerCare Plus Core, the new Medicaid-funded insurance program for low-income childless adults, has the state struggling to process the large number of applications filed in the program’s first two months. The lag is frustrating applicants, community health workers and health officials alike. ‘I feel like it’s $60 down the drain,’ said Cassandra Fier, 23, of the $60 application fee she paid June 15. She has not heard anything since. ‘If the state’s going to be slow, they need to be sending something to individuals letting them know what’s going on.’ From June 15 to Aug. 7, the state Department of Health Services received 37,211 applications for the Core program, of which only 5,000 were processed. Under program guidelines, the state has 30 days to process an application and, if approved, coverage is to begin on the following 1st or 15th of the month…”

• California board votes to drop healthcare coverage for 60,000 children, By Patrick McGreevy and Evan Halper, August 14, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “The announcement by state officials that California has enough cash to stop paying bills with IOUs did little to take the sting out of other budget news Thursday: Tens of thousands of poor children are about to lose their healthcare coverage. A state board voted Thursday to begin terminating health insurance for more than 60,000 children Oct. 1 as a result of the budget amendments signed into law recently by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those children would be up for an annual review of their coverage next month, but instead they may be dropped from the California Healthy Families program under the action by the state Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board…”
• State will boot children from insurance program starting Oct. 1, By James Rufus Koren, August 14, 2009, San Bernardino Sun: “Starting in October, hundreds of thousands of California children will likely lose their state-subsidized health insurance as cuts to the Healthy Families program begin to take effect. As they struggled to balance the state’s budget, the state Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut $178 million from the program, which provides low-cost health insurance to more than 900,000 children, mostly in low- and middle-income families. Those cuts left the program with about half the state funding officials said it would need to be fully funded…”

Homeless would benefit from health care reform, By Wayne Parry (AP), August 13, 2009, Idaho Statesman: “Victor Rozanski’s wife gave him an ultimatum: It’s either me or the bottle. He chose the bottle. The drinking wrecked his marriage. The 47-year-old lost his job as a printer, and hopped on a bus to Atlantic City, where his life’s savings of $1,500 vanished in two days of drinking and gambling. While sleeping in an alley one night, he nearly lost a leg to a cut that became infected and infested with maggots. His hernia and psychiatric disorders went untreated for years as he bounced from one casino bus lounge to the next, getting rousted every hour or so. People like Rozanski, who is trying get off the street with the help of a homeless shelter detox program, have gotten scant attention in the contentious national debate over whether and how to reform the nation’s health care system. Among the nearly 50 million Americans who don’t have health coverage are an unknown number of homeless adults, who would become eligible for Medicaid under proposals being considered in Congress…”

• Rural Indiana is seeing high rates of uninsured, By Daniel Lee, August 4, 2009, Indianapolis Star: “Rural counties as well as areas in manufacturing-heavy Northern Indiana have some of the state’s highest rates of residents lacking health coverage, according to county-by-county data on the uninsured released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Marion County and its surrounding suburban counties, however, all have uninsured rates under the state’s average of 14.3 percent…”
• Tulsa-area uninsured rates rank low in state, By Kim Archer, August 4, 2009, Tulsa World: “The percentage of uninsured residents in Tulsa County and Oklahoma County are among the lowest statewide, but still well above the 15 percent national average, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday. The state average is 21 percent…”
• Census: 1 in 6 Utahns in ‘06 lacked health plan, By James Thalman and Lee Davidson, August 3, 2009, Deseret News: “As Congress debates health-care reform, the U.S. Census Bureau released estimates Monday that one of every six Utahns under age 65 had no health insurance in 2006. And that was before the recession began. Compiling such data from numerous studies and sources takes time and is routinely delayed a few years. Some more up-to-date estimates from newer annual census surveys, which just added questions about whether people are insured, are expected later this year…”
• Fifth of state residents lack health insurance, By Brian Hicks, August 4, 2009, Charleston Post and Courier: “U.S. Census estimates show that nearly 20 percent of South Carolina residents had no health insurance in 2006, but some experts say the recession likely has pushed that figure closer to one in every four people today. That would put the number of Palmetto State residents without health insurance at more than 1 million. While the nation debates a plan to provide health insurance to all Americans - and many argue over the impact that would have on existing medical care - the Census Bureau study shows that many people don’t have existing medical insurance to begin with…”

• States make deep cuts to health, By Pauline Vu, August 5, 2009, Stateline.org: “Although states are facing their worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, 14 found the dollars this year to increase health coverage for about 250,000 children. That’s one of the few bright spots for health within state budgets in a year in which all but a handful of states faced shortfalls and were forced to shrink taxpayer-financed programs. The 14 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and West Virginia – took advantage of an additional $33 million that Congress appropriated when it reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in February. At the same time, President Obama rescinded a Bush administration directive that had hampered states’ ability to expand coverage for children whose families earned too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to buy their own health insurance…”
• Health fund for jobless runs low, By Kay Lazar, August 5, 2009, Boston Globe: “A unique state program that helps pay most health insurance costs for 27,000 unemployed Massachusetts residents is on the cusp of going broke, setting off a debate between healthcare advocates and business leaders who say funding it is a burden on companies fighting for their survival. The state’s Medical Security Program, financed solely by a tax on employers, will run out of money in January because of the surge in unemployment over the past year, state officials said yesterday. The most logical way to maintain it, officials said, is to increase the per-employee tax, which hasn’t been raised since 1990…”

• Oregon becomes one of 12 states to cover all kids with health insurance, By Bill Graves, August 3, 2009, The Oregonian: “The state turned away Stacey Babcock when she tried to sign up her daughter for health insurance five years ago. But Babcock, 27, filled out a new application last week with a promise that this time the Oregon Health Plan will find a way to cover her 8-year-old daughter, Keeley Lingley. The assurance comes from Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is scheduled to sign a bill at 10:30 a.m. today at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland extending health coverage to about 80,000 uninsured children in Oregon…”
• Governor signs bill assuring kids health insurance, By David Steves, August 5, 2009, Eugene Register-Guard: “Thousands of Oregon children without insurance can now get coverage for their medical care - and by January the same will be true for all youngsters in the state, following Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Tuesday signing of ‘Healthy Kids’ legislation. The Democratic governor’s signing of House Bill 2116 into law, along with his earlier approval of a companion bill, clears the way for one of Kulongoski’s longest-sought goals: bringing all Oregon children into the ranks of the insured, especially those whose parents don’t have access to private coverage and have not met low-income standards to qualify for the state-run Oregon Health Plan…”

States slash health care programs in budget crisis, By Susan Haigh (AP), July 29, 2009, The State: “Aurice Barlow knows what happens when someone can’t afford dental care. ‘I see people walking the streets with toothaches, teeth hanging out of their mouths,’ said the former nurse’s aide. At least 30 percent of the people in this city of 124,500 are impoverished. ‘Nobody cares,’ she says. Barlow is worried she’ll now become one of them. Washington is pouring $87 billion in federal stimulus money into the states to help maintain state-run Medicaid health care for the needy - and to handle the expected surge in enrollment. But Connecticut and other cash-strapped states say they still must slash spending on health care to cover massive budget deficits. At least 21 states have already restricted low-income children’s and families’ eligibility for health insurance or their access to services; at least 22 states and the District of Columbia are cutting services for low-income elderly or disabled patients…”

• Holes in the safety net: Medicaid falls short just as some need it most, By Tom Curry and JoNel Aleccia, July 27, 2009, MSNBC.com: “Doctors at the Maple City Health Care Center, a neighborhood clinic where the toddler’s family receives most care, couldn’t diagnose the problem. The child needed to see a specialist, but no local dermatologist would agree to accept Medicaid, the government’s safety net plan. Instead, Antonia Mejorado, 33, has to drive nearly two hours to see a dermatologist willing to treat her daughter’s potentially serious illness…”
• Colorado Medicaid list swells to record, By Tim Hoover, July 28, 2009, Denver Post: “Colorado had a 14 percent spike in Medicaid enrollment in the budget year that ended in June, a record-setting rate that capped a year with the largest-ever number of people in the health insurance program. As of June 30, there were 467,556 Coloradans on Medicaid. That’s 79,488, or 20.5 percent, more than in the same month a year before. The June figure represented the highest total in the 40 years Colorado has been participating in the state and federally funded program, which covers low-income pregnant women, children, the elderly and the disabled. Nearly 10 percent of the state’s residents are now enrolled in Medicaid…”

• 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…”

• Massachusetts, home of nation’s most ambitious health care law, offers reform ‘dos and don’ts’, By Steve LeBlanc (AP), July 24, 2009, Chicago Tribune: “Three years into its experiment with near-universal health care, Massachusetts has some ‘dos and don’ts’ for the nation as it grapples with the best way to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans.  Do require that virtually everyone have health insurance, the overriding goal in Massachusetts. Don’t ignore rising costs, the single greatest threat to the law’s long-term affordability…”
• Texas Medicaid program likely to surge under health care proposals, By Dave Michaels, July 24, 2009, Dallas Morning News: “The effort to insure tens of millions of uncovered Americans will almost certainly involve a sweeping expansion of Medicaid – with Texas probably feeling the impact more than any other state.  State lawmakers have for years limited Medicaid’s reach to low-income adults, who under Texas rules don’t qualify for the joint state-federal program. One proposal by U.S. House lawmakers would provide federal funding to extend Medicaid to about 1 million Texas adults, according to the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities – a massive jump from the 38,000 who qualify today…”

Medicaid and the states: Health-care reform’s next hurdle, By Karen Tumulty, July 21, 2009, Time Magazine: “Until the nation’s governors staged a public revolt last weekend, few people were paying attention to one of the most far-reaching proposals being considered as part of overhauling the health-care system: a dramatic expansion and redefinition of the Medicaid program. Redefining who is eligible for Medicaid would be one of the major means by which lawmakers hope to achieve universal health coverage — which is one of the reasons that governors, whose budgets are already straining under the program’s growing costs, are so wary of the idea…”

• Defying slump, 13 states insure more children, By Kevin Sack, July 18, 2009, New York Times: “Despite budgets ravaged by the recession, at least 13 states have invested millions of dollars this year to cover 250,000 more children with subsidized government health insurance…”
• Governors fear Medicaid costs in health plan, By Kevin Sack and Robert Pear, July 19, 2009, New York Times: “The nation’s governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them…”
• More uninsured patients cause struggle for local hospitals, By Sarah Tompkins, July 19, 2009, Munster Times: “While about 700 working Hoosiers each week lose health insurance during the declining economy, local hospitals and doctors are left to figure out how they can continue to treat more and more uninsured…”
• Millions more lacking insurance, By Mark Johnson, July 19, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “This month, Pierre Aterianus is due back at the doctor for twice-a-year tests of his high cholesterol, but he may stay home and simply hope he isn’t heading toward a heart attack or stroke. Aterianus, who is 57 and lives in Whitefish Bay with his 23-year-old daughter, was laid off in January from his engineering job…”
• Healthy Kids expansion to take time, By Margot Sanger-Katz, July 17, 2009, Concord Monitor: “Gov. John Lynch signed a bill yesterday that will allow young adults to purchase low-cost health insurance from a state plan originally designed for low-income children…”

• State cuts could impact child-care subsidies, By Tiffany Aumann, July 11, 2009, Newark Advocate: “On Friday, parents and employees at Montessori Community School donned badges that read “I’m at work today because I have child care” and posed for photographs as part of a last-minute campaign to tell Ohio legislators they fear for the future of child-care access and quality under 2009-10 state budget proposals. Child-care advocates think budget cuts being considered could deeply hurt low-income families that receive subsidies, as well as the caregivers who watch the children each day…”
• Enrollment freeze for state’s low-income child care program, Healthy Families, By Lora Hines, July 16, 2009, Press-Enterprise: “Beginning today, California’s health care program for low-income children will freeze enrollment for the first time in its 10-year history because of the state’s ongoing budget crisis.  Healthy Families needs $90 million from the state to cover an estimated 1 million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal and too little to afford insurance, according to California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which operates the program. That gap adds up to $270 million because the federal government kicks in $2 for every $1 the state spends on the program…”
• California’s needy may bear brunt of budget crisis, By Steve Gorman, July 15, 2009, US Daily: An ill-timed pregnancy and domestic abuse left Amanda Garcia facing a dire future last year at the prime of life, until California’s welfare-to-work program enabled her return to college after her baby was born.  Now the state’s budget crisis is clouding her second chance for a college degree and a professional career. Garcia, 19, who aspires to become a police officer and a lawyer, just learned this month that her childcare assistance may be stopped…”

• BadgerCare Plus expansion means adults without children are eligible, By Stacy Forster, July 14, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Hundreds of Wisconsin residents who have previously been without health insurance will be covered Wednesday with the start of an expanded state health program, while thousands more are poised to be enrolled in coming weeks.  The expansion of the BadgerCare Plus program to adults without dependent children comes at a time when enrollment in state health care programs has exceeded 1 million participants for the first time. That’s about 18% of the state’s population…”
• Massachusetts takes a step back from health care for all, By Abby Goodnough, July 14, 2009, New York Times:  “The new state budget in Massachusetts eliminates health care coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a growing deficit, reversing progress toward universal coverage just as Congress looks to the state as a model for overhauling the nation’s health care system.  The affected immigrants, permanent residents who have had green cards for less than five years, are now covered under Commonwealth Care, a subsidized insurance program for low-income residents that is central to the groundbreaking health care law enacted here in 2006…”

Nebraska judge strikes down Medicaid rule, By Nate Jenkins (AP), July 2, 2009, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nebraska has been wrongfully denying Medicaid coverage to hundreds of low-income residents whom state officials argued did not work enough to comply with a welfare-to-work program, a judge has ruled.  The ruling nixes a controversial state policy that required a single parent with one or more children younger than 6 years old, for instance, to work at least 20 hours a week to retain the Medicaid benefits…”

• State Medicaid coverage, costs grow, By Sarah Fisher, July 2, 2009, Baltimore Sun: “A year into a new effort to expand health coverage, recession-weary Marylanders are flocking to the state’s Medicaid program in numbers far greater than expected, costing the state $50 million more in the process…”
• A healthy start, Editorial, July 2, 2009, Baltimore Sun: “At a time when some cash-strapped states are contemplating reducing Medicaid coverage, Maryland has boldly moved in the opposite direction. Today marks the first anniversary of a program that has brought taxpayer-financed medical assistance to more than 44,000 low-income parents, the vast majority of whom lacked health care before…”