Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Democrats Urge Federal Government To Halt State's Medicaid Privatization
Two leading Democratic legislators are asking federal administrators to block Gov. Terry Branstad鈥檚 plan to turn the state鈥檚 Medicaid program over to private companies. Sens. Amanda Ragan and Liz Mathis contend that Branstad is trying to make the shift too quickly and that he has not shown how it will save money and help poor Iowans. (Leys, 9/18)
The corporations poised to take over management of Iowa鈥檚 Medicaid program have each been held accountable in other states for serious service and administrative errors, including some that wrongly delayed or denied medical services to poor residents, a Des Moines Register investigation shows. Yet a review committee that scored the corporations' bids gave the highest scores 鈥 and a piece of the annual $4.2 billion in contracts 鈥 to some of the companies with the most egregious problems. (Clayworth, 9/20)
Elsewhere, Connecticut's emergency budget cuts will hit Medicaid and Texas parents ask the state to maintain therapy services for their disabled children. Also in Texas, UnitedHealthcare helps fund a housing program to reduce health care costs -
Responding to a weak stock market, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered $103 million in emergency cuts Friday, including a major hit in Medicaid payments that ultimately will cost hospitals about $190 million in state and federal funds. (Phaneuf and Pazniokas, 9/18)
Thousands of children with disabilities would be harmed by impending state budget cuts to therapy services, several dozen parents told state health officials on Friday. (Walters, 9/18)
By law, housing costs are not covered by the state's Medicaid program, the insurer of last resort, a divisive issue in the health care community. That means insurance companies can't count them as health care costs when they report their expenditures to the state. But that hasn't stopped UnitedHealthcare, one such insurer, from contracting with local homeless coalitions in Houston and Austin to track down the health plan鈥檚 members who don鈥檛 have a stable place to live. UnitedHealthcare says that will allow the insurer to work with those members to find subsidized housing and help coordinate their health care 鈥 and in some cases, pay for 鈥渂arrier busters鈥 to help them move into apartments or buy necessities like furniture. (Walters, 9/21)
