Medicaid News

States Making Drastic Cuts in Medicaid Coverage; Could Leave Indigent Elderly with No Options

State actions may force faster action on national health care system

Jan. 5, 2009 – The health care crisis in America may reach a boiling point faster than expected as state governments – struggling to stay out of the red in this imploding economy – are rapidly cutting the coverage they provide in Medicaid. California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to stop paying for dental, psychological, optometry and other services that would leave many indigent elderly with no options for care. Read more...

Governors Want $40 Billion for State Medicaid Programs, Obama Promises Help

CMS Also Issues Final Medicaid Rule to Gives States More Flexibility in Benefit Offerings

Daily Reports KaiserNetwork.org

Dec. 3, 2008 - President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday met with 49 governors and governors-elect during a meeting of the National Governors Association in Philadelphia to discuss an economic stimulus package that could include additional federal Medicaid funds for states, the North Jersey Herald News reports. Read more...

States Ask Feds for Health Care Help with Medicaid and SCHIP

This report by Statline.org, published November 26, explains the health care crisis faced by many states as more of the burden for Medicaid, SCHIP move to them

By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer

Dec. 3, 2008 - In Utah, lawmakers have ended some physical therapy, vision and hearing services offered under Medicaid, the national health insurance program that serves 59 million needy. Nevada has capped enrollment in its state children’s health insurance program (SCHIP). California, looking at a potential budget hole of more than $28 billion, is also considering freezing enrollment in its children’s program — for the first time in the program’s 10-year history. Read more...

Medicare/Medicaid News

Finance Chair Sen. Baucus Introduces Health Care Plan Involving Medicare, Medicaid

After a year of preparation by panel, Senator’s “Call to Action” details policy options, goals for reform

Nov. 14, 2008 – Health care reform has not been a high priority for many senior citizens, since they are already covered by government plans - Medicare and/or Medicaid. A new plan introduced by one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate would have some impact on these programs, however, and seniors should stay informed. Read more...

Medicaid News

Medicaid Picture Changing Rapidly for Senior Citizens Holding Annuities

In many instances, annuities are considered an ‘available asset’ and are counted as part of an applicant’s financial resources

By John Zepeda, J.G. Wentworth

Nov. 5, 2008 - If you recall hearing something about the Deficit Reduction Act, you might have cheered, thinking that the government finally got serious about trying to get the federal budget in shape. But the thing about government belt-tightening, is that ultimately, somebody feels it. And in this case, that somebody may be you, especially if it looks like you or your spouse may need Medicaid benefits. Read more...

Medicaid Spending Will Join Medicare in Out Running the Economy in Years Ahead

Long-term care for low-income senior citizens will help drive cost to $4.9 trillion in 10 years

Oct. 19, 2008 - Under current law, spending on Medicaid is expected to substantially outpace the rate of growth in the U.S. economy over the next decade, according to a new annual report released Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This is the first time the government has spotlighted Medicaid spending as it does annually with Medicare and Social Security – all three critical programs to millions of senior citizens. Read more...

Medicaid Patients Get More Authority to Direct Personal Care in Some States

Medicaid rule will even allow hiring family members for personal assistance in states with self-direct option

Sept. 29, 2008 – A final rule was posted today that allows some Medicaid beneficiaries to take charge of their own personal assistance services – including hiring family members for personal assistance. The guidelines apply to state’s that adopt the self-directed personal assistance services option for their programs. Read more...

Poor People, Those on Medicaid are Much Slower to Arrive at Hospital after Heart Attack

Researchers say this deadly problem has persisted unchanged for years

Sept. 22, 2008 – For some reason it takes poor people suffering heart attack symptoms a lot longer to get to the hospital than others, and this deadly problem has persisted for years. This new study also found that patients with Medicaid were more likely to have a longer delay than were patients with prepaid insurance or with prepaid insurance plus Medicare. Read more...

Medicare, Medicaid News

CMS Moving to Reduce Disastrous but Preventable ‘Never Events’ in Hospitals

Medicare. Medicaid expect to pay $4.75 billion to acute care hospitals

Aug. 4, 2008 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late last week announced it is taking several actions to improve the quality of care in hospitals and reduce the number of “never events” -- preventable medical errors that result in serious consequences for the patient. Overall, the final rule is estimated to increase Medicare payments to acute care hospitals by nearly $4.75 billion. Read more...

AARP Study Finds Older Americans Not Getting Medicaid LTC at Home Where They Want It

Only four states spending more than 50% of Medicaid dollars on seniors for home, community services

July 14, 2008 – Surveys show that the vast majority of senior citizens prefer to receive long-term care in their homes, rather than in an institution, but that is not how most states are allocating their Medicaid dollars, according to a recent report by AARP’s Public Policy Institute. Only four states spent more than 50 percent of their Medicaid LTC dollars for older people to provide home and community based services (HCBS). Read more...

Bush Medicaid Rules Blocked by Senate Appropriations Committee Bill

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee predicted Thursday, “We will roll back Medicaid regulations that our nation’s governors believe will disrupt coverage for vulnerable citizens.” He points out, “The Medicaid legislation passed the House 349-62.”

Committee also includes $275 million for FDA, blocks SCHIP directive

May 16, 2008 - The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $193 billion supplemental war appropriations bill that includes a provision to block for one year seven new Medicaid regulations proposed by the Bush administration, CongressDaily reports. Read more...

Nursing Home Compare Website Now Shows if Homes Are on the Bad List

CMS releases multi-year plan for improved nursing home quality

May 2, 2008 - The worst performing nursing homes were first listed on the "Nursing Home Compare" Website last November by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS). Last week the agency announced the information has been expanded to help Medicaid (Medicare does not pay for typical long-term care) beneficiaries and families find top quality long-term care services. The site will now list whether a home is or has been on CMS’ special focus facility (SFF) list. Read more...

CMS Funds 20 States to Help Medicaid Patients Escape the Need for Emergency Room Services

Local and rural initiatives will provide alternative health care settings for non-emergent needs

April 21, 2008 - Senior citizens and others who depend on Medicaid for their medical care may soon have better access to this care without going through hospital emergency rooms. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week named the programs in 20 states that will receive $50 million in funding to help avoid the costly, improper use of emergency room services. Read more...

Governors Oppose New Medicaid Regulations that Reduce Federal Funding

California officials estimate they could lose $12 billion over 5 years

Daily Reports KaiserNetwork.org

Feb. 25, 2008 - New federal Medicaid regulations scheduled to take effect this year would shift billions of dollars in costs to the states and could lead to a reduction in services, governors said last weekend during the winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., the New York Times reports. Read more...

Medicaid in Crisis as Bush Administration Tries to Shift Billions in Cost to States

Strained state budgets and economic downturn force program cuts

Feb. 21, 2008 – Medicaid is one of those government services that most of us think we will never need. Yet, millions of senior citizens and their families have grasped for it as the last hope for access to costly long-term care, as their savings disappear. It is also the last chance for many of the uninsured at the bottom of the economic ladder to receive medical attention. The program, however, is in crisis as the Bush administration tries to move billions of dollars of cost to the states. Read more...

Medicaid, Uninsured Patients More Likely to Be Diagnosed with Advanced Cancer

Study by American Cancer Society included 3.5 million patients

Feb. 20, 2008 - A new American Cancer Society study of twelve types of cancer among more than 3.5 million cancer patients finds uninsured patients were significantly more likely to be found with advanced stage cancer compared to patients with private insurance. Medicaid patients, too, for many cancers, had significantly increased risks of developing more advanced stages before the cancer was discovered. Read more...

Medicaid Patients to Gain More Control of Personal Care with New CMS Rule

Could even hire qualified family members, other non-agency workers

Jan. 16, 2008 - A proposed rule that would allow more Medicaid beneficiaries to be in charge of their own personal assistance services, including personal care services, instead of having those services delivered by an agency, was announced this week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Read more...

Amounts Spouses of Medicaid Recipients May Keep in 2008 Released

Spouse of recipient in nursing home may keep as much as $104,400

Oct. 28, 2007 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2008 federal guidelines for how much money the spouses of institutionalized Medicaid recipients may keep, according to ElderLawAnswers.com. Read more...

Medicare News

Senior Citizen Patients in Medicare, Medicaid Not Receiving Quality Care

Elderly patients not given full range of treatments and services for their conditions

Oct. 17, 2007 - If the care received by vulnerable older people concurrently enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid was evaluated on a grading scale, it would squeak by with a barely passing mark, a new UCLA study has found. They found that “vulnerable elderly” patients received only 65 percent of the tests and other diagnostic evaluations and treatments recommended for a variety of illnesses and conditions, including diabetes and heart disease. Read more...

Medicaid News

HMOs Fail to Provide Equal Care to Medicaid and Commercial Patients

Even in same plan, commercial enrollees received higher quality of care on almost all of the measures

Oct. 10, 2007 - A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health shows that under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients on 10 of 11 quality measures. Though policy makers once hoped that HMOs would eliminate the quality of care gap between the Medicaid and commercial populations, this clearly hasn’t happened. Read more...

Medicaid Spending Increased by 10.7% in First Half of 2007

May signal end of a two-year period when costs seemed to be coming under control

Daily Reports KaiserNetwork.org

Oct. 9, 2007 - Medicaid spending increased by 10.7% in the first six months of 2007 -- the largest increase since 2001 -- and likely will reach $330 billion this year, according to a USA Today analysis of data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Read more...

Senior Citizen Politics

Senior Citizens Get About Half of Federal Budget in 2005: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

Per capita spending highest in Alaska, Virginia, Maryland, New Mexico, North Dakota

Oct. 9, 2007 - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, programs primarily serving senior citizens, accounted for more than $1 trillion of the $2.3 trillion the federal government spent in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which publishes the only consolidated source of data on the geographic distribution of federal expenditures. Read more...

Medicaid News

States Get Federal Backing to Build More Efficient, High Quality Medicaid Systems

Oct. 5, 2007 - Sixteen states and Puerto Rico have just been awarded nearly $52 million to fund research and design in new ways to improve Medicaid efficiency, economy and quality of care, Health & Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced yesterday. Read more...

CMS Issues Final Rule for Medicaid Prescription Drug Reimbursements

Ensures discounts obtained by private entities but small pharmacies concerned

Daily Reports KaiserNetwork.org

July 11, 2007 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Friday released a final rule that will change the Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement formula for pharmacies from being based on the average wholesale price to being based on the average manufacturer price, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 7/10). Read more...

Legislation Would Expand Medicaid Prescription Drug Discounts to More Facilities

States see spending slow with lower Medicaid spending growth

Daily Reports KaiserNetwork.org

June 11, 2007 - Reps. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) have introduced a bill (HR 2606) that would expand the Medicaid "340B" prescription drug program to allow more hospitals and community health centers to receive discounts on medications, CQ HealthBeat reports. Read more...

CMS Gives 13 States Money for Medicaid Programs to Keep Elderly at Home

Second funding for nursing home alternatives reaches $1.75 billion

May 15, 2007 - Thirteen states and the District of Columbia will get more than $547 million in grants over five years to build Medicaid long-term care programs that will help keep people at home and out of institutions, Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced yesterday. Read more...

Majority of State Medicaid Programs Moving to Pay-For-Performance

Study shows 85% of states may link reimbursement with performance within five years

April 12, 2007 - In the first published nationwide survey of state Medicaid programs on "pay-for-performance" practices, more than half of all programs state that they provide financial incentives to health care providers for better quality care. Almost 85 percent of states plan to have pay-for-performance programs within five years. Researchers also found that most current programs focus on women's, children's and adolescents' health issues. Read more...

Medicaid May Be Only Answer for Many Elderly but Rules have Changed

ElderLawAnswers.com summarizes asset transfer provisions

March 7, 2007 - Maybe you have been diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's, or have a chronic condition that you know will eventually lead to expensive long-term care. You consider the cost of this care and easily calculate it will eat up the nest egg you had saved for retirement and an inheritance for your children. There is also a potential of financial ruin for your children, if they assume your care. Read more...

Medicaid Spending Can Be Sustained by Increases in Government Revenues, Says Study

Share of national health spending to remain unchanged until 2025

Feb. 26, 2007 - A new study of future funding requirements for Medicaid concludes that expected growth in government revenues is likely to be large enough to sustain Medicaid spending increases over the next 40 years, while also allowing substantial real growth in spending for other public services. It is a less dire situation, the report says, than suggested by "conventional wisdom." And, it is welcome news for millions of senior citizens, who may need to rely on this health care program for the poor, as their savings are depleted by long-term care. Read more...

Initiative to Keep Medicaid Patients at Home Gets First Funding by CMS

17 States get $23 million of $1.75 billion for demonstration projects

January 17, 2007 – In the first round of funding for a program aimed at keeping Medicaid patients out of health care institutions and providing care in their homes, 17 states will receive more that $23 million this year and up to $900 million over five years for long-term care demonstration projects. Read more...

Bush Medicaid Panel Says Move Nursing Home Residents into Managed Care Plans

Democrats called the commission "nothing by a farce"

By EdlerLawAnswers.com

November 25, 2006 - Moving nursing home residents into managed care plans is among the recommendations that will be included in the final report of the Bush administration's Medicaid Commission. Read more...

Medicare, Medicaid News

Leslie Norwalk Takes Over as Acting Administrator of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Out-going administrator Mark McClellan says he improved quality of care in Medicare

October 16, 2006 – Leslie V. Norwalk became the acting administrator for the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services today, as Dr. Mark McClellan, left the office this weekend as he had announced on September 5 that he would do. Norwalk, an attorney, has been serving CMS as deputy administrator. Read more...

Medicaid News and Information

Medicaid Spending Growth Hits New Record Low for States

Improving economy allows many to leave this safety net for the poor

October 11, 2006 - State revenues increased faster than Medicaid spending for the first time since 1998, according to a new 50-state survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. It finds that an improved economy combined with the implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit has contributed to a low 2.8 percent growth rate in Medicaid spending for fiscal year 2006 – the lowest rate in a decade and the fourth consecutive year in which Medicaid spending growth has slowed. Read more...

New York State Gets $1.5 Billion from Feds to Change Medicaid Program

New Medicaid programs bumping along as states implement change

October 3, 2006 – Medicaid, for most people, is somewhere below the radar. For senior citizens, many already at the poverty level and many more who seeing poverty as a possibility as healthcare costs eat away modest savings, Medicaid is a "god-send." This program that provides healthcare for those in need, however, is going through massive change to meet new federal mandates. And the feds are serious – Health and Human Services has agreed to pay New York state $1.5 billion to make reforms. The daily report by KaiserNet.org looks at how things are changing in other states, too. Read more...

Patients Key to Latest Medicaid Reforms as States Roll Out Money-Saving Plans

'Healthier beneficiaries are cheaper than sicklier ones' is the theme

By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer

October 3, 2006 - Medicaid reform is arriving with a splash in Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. It’s being plugged in radio commercials, touted on billboards and talked up with church groups. All of the hype aims to prep recipients so that, from the moment they receive a bright lime-green and blue envelope in the mail, they feel they’re joining the cause. Read more...

Senior Citizen Politics

Clerk's Documents Show Law Changing Medicaid Transfer Rules Never Passed House

By ElderLawAnswers.com

September 19, 2006 - The Clerk of the U.S House of Representatives has added fuel to the fire over the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). The new revelations could end up burning the new law, which places severe new restrictions on the ability of the elderly to transfer assets before qualifying for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. Read more...

Medicaid-Medicare News

McClellan Says He is Leaving Post at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CMS Deputy Leslie Norwalk 'obvious candidate' for acting administrator

September 5, 2006 - Rumors were rampant over the weekend that Mark McClellan would resign soon as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Although there has been no official announcement, he has confirmed to the Associated Press he will leave the office within five weeks, according to a report in KaiserNet.org. Read more...

Former HHS Secretary Wants Feds to Take Over Medicaid for Elderly

Some say he may have financial benefit it the idea catches on

August 8, 2006 – The former secretary of Health & Human Services, Tommy Thompson, has proposed that the long-term care of the elderly in Medicaid by managed by the federal government, without participation of the states, which should focus on those under age 65. Today's KaiserNet.org daily report says, however, that Thompson could have a financial benefit in this plan. This is just one of today's stories in the report on health care. Read more...

States Offered $1.75 Billion by HHS  to Help Medicaid Patients Live at Home

People who need care and prefer to live in their own homes can do so

July 26, 2006 - Health and Human Services announced today it will offer $1.75 billion over five years to states who help shift Medicaid patients from institutions to home and community-based services. Read more...

Bush Administration Exempts Millions in Medicaid from Proof of Citizenship

July 7, 2006 – Facing lawsuits and unhappy state health officials, the Bush administration has backed off – at least a little – on the requirement that took effect on July 1 that Medicaid applicants provide proof of citizenship. In an announcement yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said certain beneficiaries will be exempted. It is estimated to include about eight million of the 55 million Medicaid users. Read more...

States Scramble to Follow Medicaid ID Law by July 1

46 million poor on Medicaid must produce citizenship documents

By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer

June 20, 2006 - Health officials in many states warn that a federal law requiring Medicaid recipients to prove citizenship starting July 1 could lead to long lines, dropped coverage and general confusion for the program's participants. Read more...

States Brace for Federal Mandate that Medicaid Recipients Prove Citizenship

New rule by HHS becomes effective on July 1

June 14, 2006 – States are bracing for the impact of a new rule from Health and Human Services that mandates Medicaid participants show proof of citizenship. This health program for the poor has always been only for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, but this is the first time the federal government has told states they must check to be sure those seeking help have proof of citizenship. The order is effective on July 1. Read more...

Idaho Becomes First State with Approved Medicaid Reform Plan

States have sweeping new options to design Medicaid programs

May 26, 2006 - Medicaid beneficiaries in Idaho will be among the first in the nation to have benefits designed to meet their needs based on age and health status -- changes allowed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today. Prior to enactment of the DRA states could not target benefits to one certain group of enrollees. Read more...

Help in Understanding New Medicaid Regulations Provided Online

ElderLawAnswers.com looks at details of new transfer rules

April 24, 2006 – Most senior citizens would prefer to pay their own way as they are forced to seek professional help in dealing with the deterioration of mind and body that is inevitable with aging. Unfortunately, many cannot afford it and must turn to Medicaid for help. ElderLawAnswers.com this week looks at the new laws pertaining to asset transfers that may be necessary to qualify for Medicaid. Read more...

Everyone in Massachusetts Must Have Health Insurance, State to Help Poor

Ground-breaking legislation sets up state health insurance, expands efforts to find those eligible for Medicaid

April 5, 2006 – Everyone in Massachusetts must have health insurance under a law passed today, which the governor is expected to sign. The State will also require employers who do not provide employee insurance to pay a fee to help support a new state health insurance program for those of limited financial resources. The bill will also mandate the state help find those eligible for Medicaid and get them enrolled. Many see this is the latest example of states stepping up to the plate on health care solutions as the federal government flounders. Read more...bill summary...

Long-Term Care Industry Says Quality Care Threatened by Medicaid Cuts

American Health Care Association optimistic Administration is hearing the plea

March 15, 2006 – National long-term care industry leaders yesterday expressed concern about the squeeze on state Medicaid budgets. Their message was targeting the Medicaid Advisory Commission, which met yesterday in Atlanta to consider pending federal Medicaid reform proposals. Read more...

It's D-Day for Medicaid Clients as Drug Coverage Switches to Medicare

Jan. 1, 2005 - A federal district judge ruled last week that federal courts lack the power to order continuation of existing drug benefits for people with Medicare and Medicaid, as drug coverage shifts today from Medicaid to Medicare Part D. Denial of drug coverage is just one of the confusing circumstances that may face the more than six million "dual eligibles" in this new year. Read more...

Senior Alert

Pending Medicaid Asset Transfer Law Encourages Planning Now

By ElderLawAnswers.com

Dec. 26, 2005 - When families gather together for the holidays, it's an ideal time to sit down and discuss important issues like long-term care planning. This holiday season such discussions are taking on a special urgency because of the profound changes to the Medicaid rules that are looming. The bottom line: if you have been hesitating about seeing an attorney about long-term care planning, hesitate no longer. Read more...

Opinions

House Budget Bill Unfairly Punishes Elderly, ElderLawAnswers Warns

Leading elder law Website warns that House bill cutting Medicaid would drastically change asset transfer rules, punishing older Americans

Nov. 29, 2005 - House and Senate conferees will soon sit down to reconcile two very different budget bills that cut billions from the Medicaid program. The House bill, H.R. 4241, contains provisions that will punish unwitting elders who have given their families modest gifts, and will force some middle-income elderly to sell their homes and spend down the proceeds, warns ElderLawAnswers (www.elderlawanswers.com), the nation's leading elder law Web site. Read more...

House Joins Senate in Passing Budget Cuts Including Medicaid

Nov. 18, 2005 – After embarrassing failures by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives to pass a bill to cut the federal budget, they finally passed the finish line early this morning with a 217 to 215 vote victory. The House bill has major differences from the bill passed by the Senate yesterday 64-33, including cuts in Medicaid, which will impact millions of senior citizens. President Bush has said he will veto the Senate bill, should its provision for additional taxes on oil companies be part of the compromise. Read more...

Growth in Uninsured Outpacing U.S. Spending on Health Care Safety Net

The south is home to more than half of uninsured growth; immigrants not driving recent growth

Nov. 4, 2005 - At a policy briefing examining the latest health coverage trends and the implications for the nation’s health care safety net (Medicaid is the bread and butter of the safety net), the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) highlighted five reports that profile the growing uninsured population and portray the health care safety net as increasingly straining to meet uninsured people’s needs. Many senior citizens, covered by Medicare, see this trend as endangering their government health care insurance program. Read more...

Finance Committee Passes $10 Billion in Cuts for Medicare, Medicaid

Most savings will come from making pharmaceutical industry pay more, doctors get big pay boost

Oct. 26, 2005 – Senior citizens and their advocates most likely breathed a sigh of relief with the passage of a spending cut package by the Senate Finance Committee last night. It cuts $10 billion over five years from Medicare and Medicaid, but the cuts are primarily aimed at reducing subsidies for the pharmaceutical industry. The downside for some seniors was some tightening of rules for transferring personal assets to others when trying to qualify for Medicaid. Read more...

HHS Approves Project

Florida’s 2.2 Million on Medicaid are Target of New Experiment with Managed Care Plans

HHS Secretary, CMS Administration heap praise on plan by President's brother

By Tucker Sutherland, editor

Oct. 20, 2005 – It is hard not to be a bit skeptical when two government officials heap unusual praise on the brother of their boss, President George W. Bush, while handing him a guarantee of $1 billion dollars a year for about five years to help his state manage a Medicaid demonstration project. That’s what happened today as Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced approval of the plan by Florida, where the President’s brother, Jeb, is governor. The plan, however, truly is innovative and comes at a time when all states are seeking ideas on how to manage the growing cost of healthcare for the poor and elderly. Read more...

Drug Retailers Form Coalition for Meaningful Medicaid Reform

Launching ad campaign aimed at Congressional budget cuts

Oct. 17, 2005 – As Congress returns its focus to the federal budget, after being flooded by hurricane woes, a major topic will be how to reduce the cost of Medicaid. Many consumer advocates for senior citizens and the disabled are geared for the fight. Today, another major player entered the ring in the form of the Coalition for Meaningful Medicaid Reform – an organization formed by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association. Read more...

Medicaid Commission Finds $1 Billion More Than Asked to Cut

Charged by HHS with finding $10 billion in savings over five years they exceed goal

Sept. 1, 2005 – The Medicaid Commission, which was to tell Health and Human Services how to save $10 billion dollars over five years, presented their report today and it includes suggested reforms that they project will save the government $11 billion – a billion dollars more than their goal. Read more...

Medicaid Expanding Test on Long-Term Care Education

CMS seeking more states to join demonstration project that began in January

July 27, 2005 – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking five to ten states to help expand their demonstration project aimed at helping inform citizens about how to plan for long-term care. The ultimate goal is to help in controlling costs in the Medicaid program. Read more...

Testimony on Medicaid at Senate Aging Hearing Now Available

July 21, 2005 – Testimony delivered yesterday at the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging hearing - “Sound Policy, Smart Solutions: Saving Money In Medicaid” – is now available. Read more...

National Governors Meeting

Governors Unite Behind Medicaid Reforms

Hope to budge polarized, paralyzed federal government

By Kathleen Hunter, Stateline.org Staff Writer

July 19, 2005 - The nation's governors presented a staunchly bipartisan front here over the weekend, repeatedly painting a sharp contrast between their collaborative efforts and what Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) termed the "polarized and paralyzed" federal government in Washington. Read more...

States, Feds in Clawing Match That May Cost Poorest Seniors Dearly

July 12, 2005 – Federal and state governments are in a “clawing match” and the losers in the fight will most likely be some of the poorest senior citizens in America. And, it is a loss that could be fatal, as their Medicaid coverage is yanked by their state government that is trying to keep from giving money back to the federal government.  Estimates are that in Florida, which has already begun the process, as many as 77,000 elderly and disabled will lose their Medicaid assistance. Read more...

Can you believe it?

HHS Gets 13 to Take Job of Saving Medicaid $10 Billion and Enhancing Service

July 8, 2005 – How would you like this job – come up with ideas on how Medicaid can achieve $10 billion in spending reduction during the next five years, while at the same time coming up with ideas for enhancements that will better serve the beneficiaries. Thirteen people accepted that job today, with the support of 15 non-voting members, on the advisory commission named by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. Read more...

Most Senior Citizens Lack Assets to Pay for Even a Year in Nursing Home

June 29, 2005 - A new issue paper by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that the majority of elderly people (65+) not already in a care facility do not have assets, excluding their homes, sufficient to finance a nursing home stay of even one year - a cost now estimated at $70,000 per year. Read more...

Medicaid Surprisingly Popular With Americans, Survey Finds

June 29, 2005 - Perhaps surprisingly, given years of debate about Medicaid, frequent references to the program as the "Pac Man" of state budgets, and periodic calls for reform, public attitudes toward Medicaid are remarkably positive, and opposition to cuts is reasonably strong, according to a new public opinion survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Read more...

In Vermont

Medicaid Introduces Demonstration to Help Elderly Stay Home

June 14, 2005 – A new demonstration project for Medicaid will give elderly and disabled Vermont residents more options to remain in their homes and communities and out of institutions, according to an announcement today by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. Read more...

Governors to Lobby for Medicaid Reforms

Task Force releases summary for 50 governors to review

By Kathleen Hunter, Stateline.org Staff Writer

June 3, 2005 - The nation’s governors are seeking consensus on a new blueprint to fundamentally restructure Medicaid, the government’s largest health care program, that seeks to stem its exploding costs without cutting off medical care for more Americans. Read more..

Democrats Won’t Join Medicaid Commission as Non-Voting Members

May 26, 2005 – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid announced today they will decline to appoint non-voting members to the Bush Administration's Medicaid Commission. They cited the “partisan nature of the Commission” and the $10 billion in cuts for Medicaid by the Republicans as reasons. Read more...

New Medicaid Advisory Commission Charged With Cutting $10 Billion

HHS also wants them to develop ideas of improving services

May 20, 2005 – A Medicaid advisory commission was announced today with the awesome assignments of saving $10 billion in the next five years, while at the same time finding enhancements to better serve beneficiaries. Read more...

Report Explodes Myth That Medicaid Transfers Are a Problem

Written By: ElderLawAnswers.com

May 13, 2005 - A new report concludes that the practice among the elderly of transferring assets in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care is uncommon and that efforts to further restrict such transfers will have little effect on Medicaid spending. Read more...

Medicare Adds $31.7 Million to Funds for State Programs to Help Spread the Word on Next Year’s Drug Program

SHIPs, CMS Build Stronger Commitment to Doing Better Job

April 13, 2005 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Monday a 50 percent increase in funding for the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) for stronger efforts to inform Medicare beneficiaries about the prescription drug coverage that begins in 2006. Read more...

Switch to Medicare Drug Coverage Poses Dire Risk for Nursing Home Residents, Experts Warn

Written By: ElderLawAnswers.com

April 13, 2005 - Thousands of nursing home residents are in grave danger of losing coverage for life-sustaining drugs when the new Medicare drug law takes effect on January 1, experts familiar with medication practices in long-term care settings are warning. Any sudden loss of coverage will likely result in illnesses or premature deaths, the experts say. Read more...