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State Health Watch Archives – April 1, 2011

April 1, 2011

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  • Some Medicaid cuts appear to be "penny wise but pound foolish"

    If a cutting an optional service saves Medicaid $5 million, will this cause costs to increase by $5 million in another area of the program?
  • Illinois Medicaid makes bold move with its managed care expansion

    Major Medicaid reform legislation signed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn in January 2011 is projected to save $624 million to $774 million over five years, reports Theresa Eagleson, administrator of the Division of Medical Programs for Illinois' Medicaid agency.
  • Now, tougher decisions are on table for states

    When a program funded through state-only dollars is targeted for reduction or elimination, there is a possibility that it can be funded through Medicaid instead, notes Patricia MacTaggart, a lead research scientist and lecturer in the Health Policy Department at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
  • Illinois' Medicaid MC expansion is unique

    It is the broad inclusion of all services that makes Illinois' managed care expansion unique, according to James Parker, deputy administrator for medical programs at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
  • Lost fiscal opportunities in store for Medicaid programs

    While opportunities for cost savings exist in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, some states will be unable to take advantage of these due to severe budget shortfalls, according to Stan Rosenstein, principal advisor at Health Management Associates in Sacramento, CA, and former California Medicaid director.
  • Cost shifting is the issue with nursing home diversion Program

    For decades, a California long-term care program provided case management for about 12,000 elderly Medicaid clients who qualify for placement in a nursing facility but want to remain in the community, but it is now faced with total elimination.
  • Making the business case: "Night job" for MSSP staff

    After the Multipurpose Senior Service Program (MSSP) was targeted for elimination in January 2011, the program's staff put together their own analysis to prove the cost savings achieved by the program, reports Eileen M. Koons, MSW, ACSW, director of Huntington Senior Care Network.
  • "Cash and Counseling" works, even with mental health clients

    Adults with mental illnesses in the Cash and Counseling program had higher satisfaction, both with their quality of life and with their paid caregivers, compared to those receiving traditional Medicaid services, according to an April 2010 study done for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Self-Directed Care in Mental Health: Learnings from the Cash & Counseling Demonstration Evaluation.
  • Medicaid underfunding nursing homes: Problem expected to grow

    Medicaid programs underfunded nursing facility care by $5.6 billion in 2010, paying $7.17 per hour per patient, less than the nation's current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according to an analysis from the American Health Care Association in Washington, DC.
  • Will increase in rates boost Medicaid primary care?

    The federally funded increase in Medicaid primary care reimbursement rates, which requires providers to be reimbursed at parity with Medicare rates in 2013 and 2014, presents states with both challenges and opportunities, according to a January 2011 brief from the Hamilton, NJ-based Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), Increasing Primary Care Rates, Maximizing Access and Quality.
  • To strengthen primary care, leadership is key

    Leadership and the convening of stakeholders, payment incentives, support for infrastructure, information feedback and monitoring, and certification and recognition are key factors for successful delivery system reforms, according to a December 2010 report from The Commonwealth Fund.
  • New option may jump-start health homes in Medicaid

    Medicaid programs now have a new option to offer "health homes" to enrollees with chronic conditions, included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). "The main reason we will see strong interest is that this is a population that is very high-cost, and often goes without needed care," says Jocelyn Guyer, co-executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families in Washington, DC.