Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Facing Deep Funding Cuts For Children With Disabilities, Texas Democrats Ask Feds To Step In
Three weeks before Texas officials plan to slash funding for a program that pays for speech, physical and occupational therapy for children with disabilities, Democrats in the Texas House are asking the Obama administration to intervene. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should take action to ensure that cuts made to Texas Medicaid 鈥渄o not restrict access to medically necessary therapy services,鈥 all 50 Democrats in the Texas House wrote in a letter to Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the federal agency. (Walters, 6/23)
Three years after Missouri鈥檚 legislature first shut down the option to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 173,000 of adults who could have been covered by the law remain uninsured. Many, including Carter, turn to publicly funded health clinics like Affinia for care, where they can see a doctor for a small fee. It鈥檚 in these waiting rooms where the effects of Missouri鈥檚 鈥渃overage gap鈥 come to the forefront. (Bouscaren, 6/24)