Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Calif. Ballot Initiative Would Lock In Hospital Fees To Help Stabilize Funding For Medicaid
Lined up against the likes of legalizing pot and abolishing the death penalty, Proposition 52 is probably the last measure that even the most earnest voters will get around to discussing at their neighborhood ballot parties. But supporters, ranging from Republicans to Democrats, hospitals and health care consumer groups, say the proposition that asks voters to lock in billions of dollars in hospital fees in order to take advantage of billions in federal matching funds is vital to California’s ability to pay for the health care of the state’s poorest residents. (Seipel, 10/8)
Gov. Terry Branstad has highlighted extra benefits under Iowa's new Medicaid program to show the privatized system functions better than the former state-run setup, but the agency overseeing Medicaid acknowledges it knows little about how the so-called value-added services are actually working for patients. That lack of detail hasn't stopped Branstad from using the perks — such as waived gym membership fees, prenatal services and free cellphones — to help sell in public remarks and press releases the pros of Medicaid under private management. (Rodriguez, 10/9)
The state Department of Health Services overreached in seeking to recoup Medicaid payments from dozens of independent private duty nurses who care for severely disabled patients in their homes, a Waukesha County judge has ruled. The health department exceeded its authority when it asked the nurses to return Medicaid payments because the nurses didn’t fully comply with various rules in documenting the care they provided, Circuit Court Judge Kathryn Foster decided Sept. 27. The cases don’t involve alleged fraud. (Wahlberg, 10/9)
When Gov. Doug Ducey sought to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program, he asked the federal government for a big stick. But federal health regulators last week stripped Arizona’s proposed Medicaid overhaul of some of its most muscular enforcement proposals. And the changes that the federal government will allow to stand require a degree of cooperation from low-income individuals who qualify for Medicaid coverage. (Alltucker, 10/7)
