�鶹Ů��

Nearly 500,000 people, many of them children, will keep Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage after state officials discovered major errors in their procedures for reviewing program eligibility, federal officials said on Thursday. After a pandemic-era policy that guaranteed Medicaid coverage lapsed in April, states began checking to see whether tens of millions of Americans covered by the programs still qualified, removing them from the rolls if their incomes had surpassed program limits, among other reasons. (Weiland, 9/21)

The officials said Thursday that states are in the process of reinstating everyone who should not have been cut off from Medicaid. Daniel Tsai, the federal Medicaid director, said at least some states will be in position to resume all of their Medicaid unwinding, as the undertaking is known, by the end of this month. But he did not identify how many — or which — states are able to make rapid corrections, acknowledging that some will need months. (Goldstein, 9/21)

In late August, CMS warned that some state computer systems were flagging entire households for further information — and dropping all family members when no one responded — instead of reviewing each individual separately and automatically renewing children who remain eligible. It sent letters to all states asking them to verify their compliance with federal rules. (Lieb, 9/21)

On Medicaid expansion —

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves released a proposal Thursday aimed at helping some of the state’s financially struggling hospitals, even as the Democrat who is trying to unseat him has spent months hammering Reeves for opposing Medicaid expansion in one of the poorest states in the nation. Hospitals would pay some higher taxes as a way to receive substantially more federal Medicaid money, Mississippi Medicaid director Drew Snyder said. Reeves said the changes are projected to generate $689 million, which would be split among hospitals. (Wagster Pettus, 9/21)

It almost seemed anti-climatic Thursday afternoon and early Friday morning when lawmakers voted on the nearly $30 billion state budget. The spending plan — flush with hundreds of millions of dollars for mental and behavioral health care, a new children’s hospital “somewhere in the Triangle,” crisis pregnancy centers, a new rural health program, enhancements to the medical examiner and autopsy system, health care workforce incentives, Medicaid expansion and more — was approved along party lines with little fanfare. To make it official, one more vote is needed by the Senate today before the bill is sent to the governor. (Blythe and Hoban, 9/22)

And in other Medicaid news —

Medicaid pilot program in food as medicine shows promise. Delivery service offers fresh fruits, vegetables to address diabetes, obesity, hypertension. (Yan, 9/22)

A huge addiction recovery community in Tucson, Arizona, shuttered suddenly this week, leaving more than 200 people homeless as Arizona investigates widespread Medicaid fraud largely affecting Native Americans, authorities said Thursday. (Snow, 9/21)

And more news from CMS —

A top official at CMS promised to get “tougher” on Medicare Advantage plans amid growing complaints about care denials and access. CMS Deputy Administrator Jon Blum discussed what he considers flaws in the growing program during a session Thursday at the National Association of ACOs’ fall conference in Washington. Blum’s remarks could belie CMS’ thinking on how to handle a program more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries participate in. (King, 9/21)

A proposed federal rule on minimum nursing home staffing could lead to the slashing of 4,000 patient beds in the state, according to the industry. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued the proposed rule earlier this month, establishing the minimum amount of time certified nurse aids and registered nurses must spend daily with nursing home patients. (9/21)