Medicaid Work Requirements Rescinded In Michigan And Wisconsin
The work requirements, championed by the Trump administration, were instituted in some conservative states during Medicaid program expansions. In other news about the program for low-income Americans, Missouri lawmakers who refused to accept voters' decision last fall to expand Medicaid have redistributed money that the government said would support the expansion.
The Biden administration has rescinded permissions for Michigan and Wisconsin to require Medicaid beneficiaries to either work or attend school or job training in order to enroll in the public health program for lower-income Americans. The administration’s actions follow recissions of similar requirements in Arkansas and New Hampshire. (Ollove, 4/7)
After refusing to set money aside in next year’s budget to pay for a voter-approved expansion of Medicaid, Republicans in the Missouri House took steps Tuesday to distribute the unspent cash on other items. From directing $18 million to school transportation costs to sending an additional $88 million to nursing homes, the House Budget Committee reviewed how it will spend the $1 billion that Republican Gov. Mike Parson had earmarked for the expansion of the health insurance program for the poor. (Erickson, 4/7)
Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan threw his weight Wednesday behind a bill that would extend Medicaid coverage to mothers for a year postpartum as part of a broad package of proposals meant to increase access to affordable health care in Texas. The number of reported maternal deaths has increased nationwide in recent decades, and Texas data shows Black women in the state die disproportionately while pregnant or after delivery, from causes like infections, heart problems and mental disorders. (Najmabadi, 4/7)
Come July 1, North Carolina’s Medicaid program is being placed into the hands of commercial insurers, and this time, state officials say, the transition is all but guaranteed. The move will change Medicaid, the largest public insurer in the state, into something that looks and acts more like private health insurance. (Engel-Smith, 4/8)
In Medicare news —
CMS wants to boost Medicare payments for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2.2% and inpatient psychiatric facilities by 2.3% next year, the agency said Wednesday. According to CMS, the changes would increase federal spending on inpatient rehab by $160 million compared to 2021. Likewise, federal spending on inpatient psychiatric facilities would go up by about $90 million. Regulators plan to require inpatient rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities to report COVID-19 vaccine coverage among their healthcare personnel. (Brady, 4/7)
