Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Despite Success In Extending Medicaid Expansion, Ark. Gov. Faces Obstacles Ahead
With a byzantine end-it-to-save-it maneuver, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson put his imprint on the hybrid Medicaid expansion he inherited and effectively saved the subsidized insurance program. But there's little guarantee that the Republican governor and legislative leaders won't face the type of budget shutdown fight that's accompanied the program since its inception. ... a bigger question looms: What will it take to save the program when lawmakers take up the issue again in several months? (DeMillo, 4/24)
It seems as though just about everyone in state government likes the Oklahoma Health Care Authority鈥檚 Medicaid Rebalancing proposal. Except for the part about $100 million in up-front costs. ... The Health Care Authority administers both the state Medicaid system and Insure Oklahoma, a program that subsidizes private health insurance premiums for low-income Oklahomans. To prevent the state鈥檚 Medicaid system, known as SoonerCare, from collapsing, the OHCA proposes growing Insure Oklahoma. To do that, it is asking for a $1.50 increase in the cigarette tax to stabilize Medicaid reimbursement rates, and about $100 million in seed money by 2020 so it can add about 176,000 people in Insure Oklahoma. (Krehbiel and Hoberock, 4/24)
Charges of Medicaid fraud against three administrators of the now defunct Carlsbad Mental Health Center were dismissed in magistrate court Thursday. Noel Clark, Darril Woodfield and Michael Stoll were indicted in June 2015 by the office of Attorney General Hector Balderas following an investigation they said revealed over-billing and falsification of documents at Carlsbad Mental Health Center. (Onsurez, 4/22)
