Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Ark., As Many As 31,400 People Have Waited Longer Than Maximum Time Limit To Find Out Medicaid Application Status
As of Aug. 2, as many as 31,400 Arkansans had been waiting longer than the maximum time allowed for word that their applications for Medicaid had been approved, according to numbers from the state Department of Human Services. Federal rules allow a maximum of 45 days for state Medicaid agencies to process applications. Some of those applications have been pending since last year, according to an Arkansas Medical Society official. The delays have been widespread among mothers seeking coverage for newborns, said David Wroten, executive vice president of the medical society. (Davis, 9/10)
Kansas will lose its first hospital in nine years when Mercy Hospital in Independence begins a phased closure starting Oct. 10 – a victim of changes in hospital reimbursement and slow depopulation. The hospital has struggled financially for a few years and officials tried for months to negotiate agreements with other hospitals in the region. In late July, they signed a preliminary agreement to sell its assets to Coffeyville Regional Medical Center, but last week officials said they were calling a halt the talks without an agreement. (Voorhis, 9/9)
The company running Cook County's Medicaid insurance plan that was fired last month warned that changing administrators "threatens a major disruption" to the plan's 171,000 members. Jeff Joy, president and CEO of IlliniCare Health Plan, made his first public comments Wednesday about the termination of a $1.8 billion, five-year contract awarded last year. IlliniCare provides the back office and operational infrastructure to CountyCare, the Medicaid managed care plan of the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, the two-hospital safety net for the poor and uninsured. (Sachdev, 9/9)
