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Senior Journal on MEDICAID
Medicaid news and information for senior
citizens and caregivers
If you are seeking
assistance for an elderly relative, follow this link to a list of helpful
Websites. Click Here
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
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
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
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
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
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...
New York Medicaid Changes Praised by HHS Secretary:
May Be Signal to Governors
March 17, 2005 – The effort in New York to
“modernize” the Medicaid program drew praise yesterday from Health and
Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. It may signal a direction for the
states to move, after appeals to President Bush by the governor’s failed
to produce additional federal funding.
Read more...
Understanding Medicaid
Medicaid - Cost and complexity tax reform efforts
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org
Staff Writer
When
Medicaid first came into being in mid-1965, the now gigantic government
health care program went largely unnoticed. The federal-state policy
commitment to provide for the medical needs of the poor was so
overshadowed by passage of sweeping Medicare health care guarantees for
every American over age 65 that President Lyndon B. Johnson gave
Medicaid only passing mention at an Independence, Mo., bill-signing
ceremony.
Read
more...
Medicaid, Long-Term Care Among Top Issues For
Nation’s Governors
The governors ended their meeting in Washington with
Medicaid funding unresolved
March
2, 2005 - The nation’s governors ended four days of meetings in
Washington, D.C., pressed into action on three fronts: that impact
senior citizens - crafting a bipartisan plan to revamp Medicaid, urging
legislation enabling seniors to pre-pay for long-term care and making
health records more high tech. Another top priority for the governors is
making high school more demanding, according to a report by Pamela M.
Prah in
Stateline.org.
Read more...
Medicaid Cuts on Table for 2005 As Cost Spirals
Medicaid passing elementary, secondary education
costs for states
Dec. 11, 2004 – “Medicaid, the nation's health care
program for the poor, appears headed for the chopping block in 2005 as
President Bush and Congress look for ways to cut the federal budget
deficit,” says Lawrence M. O’Rourke of the Sacramento Bee’s Washington
Bureau. Medicaid is a rapidly growing cost for states and the federal
government that gets far less attention than the rising cost of Medicare
and Social Security, but that may be changing.
More... 12/11/04*
States Urged to Give Medicaid Beneficiaries Control
Over Long-Term Care
“Concept of money following the person's own
preferences improves satisfaction and may reduce Medicaid costs.”
Aug. 19, 2004 - More states than ever are
re-directing Medicaid funds to keep more people out of institutions and
living in their own communities and homes, and there are many approaches
that states can use to accomplish this, according to the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
More... 8/19/04*
Survey: States Cutting Medicaid Benefits
Sept. 22, 2003 - States cut
Medicaid benefits and increased copayments in 2003 to slow spending growth
in the low-income health insurance program for the first time in seven
years, according to a survey released today.
The Kaiser
Commission on Medicaid Website on Survey –
Go>
Texas To Take Homes of Frail And Elderly Who Use Medicaid
Editor’s
Note: The Texas
Legislature has passed a bill authorizing the seizure of all property in an
estate, including homes, to pay the amount of Medicaid provided for patients.
This will primarily apply to the elderly who die in nursing homes. It was a
provision passed under what many are saying was misleading information from
the Republican Governor. The following was written by a state representative
who is trying to change this law.
Click 7/29/03*
Supreme Court
Okays Maine Program to Force Lower Drug Prices
May 19, 2003 - The Supreme
Court on Monday gave a thumbs up to a novel state program to force drug
manufacturers to lower prices on prescription drugs, but warned that the
program may not survive further court challenges. The law is considered by
many as a model for forcing drug companies to sell cheaper prescription drugs.
Click 5/19/03*
New Study
State Budgets
Collapsing Under Medicaid Costs
Jan. 14, 2003 - States planned for tough
fiscal times during their budget deliberations for fiscal year 2003, but now
halfway through the year nearly two-thirds of states have had to implement or
are planning a second round of Medicaid cuts.
Click 1/14/03*
9 States, D.C. Form Group
States Join
Forces to Reduce Drug Costs
Jan. 14, 2003 - A
nonprofit organization, the National Legislative Association on
Prescription Drug Prices, formally announced yesterday that they are
moving forward with nine states and Washington D.C. to establish
a plan for negotiating lower prices for prescription drugs in an
effort to reduce Medicaid costs.
Click 1/14/03*
Physicians Less
Likely to Provide Charity Care and Treat Medicaid Patients
Dec. 5, '02 - The
proportion of physicians providing charity care and treating Medicaid
patients declined between 1997 and 2001, according to a new national
tracking study released today by the Center for Studying Health System
Change (HSC). The good news is that over 85 percent of physicians
still see Medicaid patients.
Click 12/05/02*
HHS to Allow Elderly, Disabled
Texans to Direct Their Own Medicaid Services
October 31, 2002 - HHS Secretary Tommy
G. Thompson today approved a Texas plan to allow seniors and disabled
Americans receiving Medicaid home - and community-based services to choose and
contract for their needs directly.
Click 10/31/2*
Senate Aging
Committee Chairman Warns Congress of Long-Term Care Crisis
Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), chairman of the Senate Special
Committee on Aging, urged Congress to consider a comprehensive long-term care
system and warned that the burgeoning pressures of long-term care services and
escalating Medicaid costs may soon overwhelm state budgets.
Click 3/21/2*
Editor's Notebook
Crisis In Medicaid Poses Serious Threat To Senior Citizens
By Tucker Sutherland, Editor
Social Security and Medicare receive a lot of
media coverage related to reforms that can make these programs better and
safer. Almost ignored is the most critical crisis facing senior citizens - the
economic pressures forcing states to cutback on Medicaid funding, which pays
nearly two-thirds of all nursing home and long-term care bills.
Click 3/15/2*
>
Clinton
Acts
to
Expand
Disability
Coverage
10/28/00
President
Clinton
acted
Friday
to
let
states
expand
Medicaid
coverage
to
people
with
disabilities
by
providing
benefits
to
people
who
would
not
otherwise
be
eligible
and
moving
people
from
institutions
into
the
community.
>
Medicaid
Loophole
to
Close
-
Saving
Taxpayers
Money
10/20/00*
The
proposed
regulation
would
revise
Medicaid's
"upper
payment
limit"
rules,
stopping
states
from
using
certain
accounting
techniques
to
inappropriately
obtain
extra
federal
Medicaid
matching
funds
that
are
not
necessarily
spent
on
health-care
services
for
Medicaid
beneficiaries.
>
New
All-in-One
Government
Website
in
Action
10/6/00
Click
the
title
above
or
click
this
link
(http://www.firstgov.gov)
to
go
to
the
new
U.S.
Government
website
that
is
supposed
to
make
it
easier
for
you
to
find
any
government
information.
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