Medicaid

A Republican proposal to reform Medicaid would ration care for one-third of U.S. kids, advocates said Friday.

First Focus, a bipartisan group, responded to the idea of per-capita Medicaid caps floated by Senate Finance Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.).

Hatch endorsed the policy last month as a way to reduce the deficit. Per-capita caps would limit Medicaid spending based on a beneficiary's health condition and eligibility category — child, senior, disabled person, and so on. 

Tavenner nomination could face resistance from healthcare law foes [free registration required]

Grassley calls for consideration of Tavenner's nomination

Feds reject Miss. proposal on state-run exchange

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday became the sixth Republican governor to back the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's signature healthcare law. That brings to 21 the total number of states where governors have said they intend to plow ahead with the expansion.

Snyder's choice comes after significant pressure from consumer advocates in his state. And it's the latest in a string of high-profile losses for conservative activists who have pushed GOP governors to resist the Medicaid expansion. High-profile defections from that hardline position also include Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and, most recently, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

“It’s a win for all," Snyder reportedly said as he announced his long-awaited decision, noting that the federal government initially covers the entire cost of the expansion.

Healthwatch has more.

GOP hits employment numbers: House Republicans are making hay over yesterday's report from the Congressional Budget Office, and specifically its finding that 7 million fewer people will get healthcare through an employer by 2022. The House Education and the Workforce Committee noted the finding in a press release Wednesday, arguing that "the president’s government takeover of health care is forcing more Americans out of employer-provided health care and hitting job creators with higher taxes."

Abortion wars resume: Just as progressives notched a win in Michigan with Snyder's Medicaid decision, a Republican in the state legislature revived a controversial proposal to require a transvaginal ultrasound before a woman can obtain an abortion. Transvaginal ultrasounds were also at the center of an abortion firestorm last year in Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell (R ) ultimately killed it. Talking Points Memo has more on the Michigan bill.

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will embrace the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's signature healthcare law — the latest Republican to buck party leaders who have pressed governors hard to resist the expansion.

The Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday that Snyder will back the expansion in the budget he delivers to the state legislature the next day. The expansion will give roughly 470,000 Michigan residents access to Medicaid, the newspaper reported.

President Obama's top economic adviser said that the White House will accept a fight on Medicare in order to protect Medicaid from cuts — a promise that is winning fast praise from advocates for the low-income health insurance program. Gene Sperling made the remark Thursday at a conference organized by Families USA, a liberal advocacy group, saying that even Medicaid cuts endorsed by the administration in the past will no longer be on the table as a series of fiscal deadlines approach.

The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems responded, saying the commitment "is welcome news for the millions of people who rely on the safety net for essential healthcare services." And Planned Parenthood Federation of America praised Obama for understanding that "for millions of women, cuts to [Medicaid] could mean the difference between getting cancer screenings and birth control, or going without." The news will also be welcome to liberal lawmakers who have called for preserving Medicaid's budget during tense negotiations with Republicans.

Sperling did acknowledge Thursday that protecting Medicaid will increase pressure to cut Medicare. Read more about his remarks here, and for more coverage of the Families conference, check out The Hill's Healthwatch. Gary Cohen with Health and Human Services (HHS) said the federal insurance exchange will be ready to go in eight months. Anton Gunn, HHS director of External Affairs, said officials have stopped using the term "exchanges" to describe part of the healthcare law because the word doesn't translate well in Spanish. And Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) also spoke.

Clancy to step down: Carolyn Clancy is leaving her post as director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where she had worked since 2003. The news garnered kudos for Clancy from groups like Research!America and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

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The White House is willing to make bigger Medicare cuts in order to protect Medicaid, senior economic adviser Gene Sperling said Thursday.

Sperling said the White House is no longer willing to make even the Medicaid cuts it had previously supported, but acknowledged that puts more pressure on Medicare.

“We are not willing to accept even the Medicaid savings that we had once put on the table … Medicaid savings, Medicaid cuts, for this administration, are not on the table,” Sperling said at a conference organized by the advocacy group Families USA.

Most states are upgrading their Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems as required by President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new survey.

The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 47 states have received or applied for increased federal funds to modernize their Medicaid enrollment systems, and 42 have undertaken changes.

The Affordable Care Act encourages states to expand Medicaid eligibility using mostly federal dollars, and mandates that all Medicaid programs move toward web-based, paperless enrollment processes. 

Registered voters in seven states want their governors to participate in the Medicaid expansion under President Obama's healthcare law, according to polling released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).

The survey found majority support for the Medicaid expansion in each of the seven states surveyed, some of which are on the fence about the expansion.

The smallest majority supporting the expansion was in Texas, where 58 percent said their states should accept federal funding to expand the healthcare program for poor and disabled people.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has said he will probably reject the expansion.

The Obama administration released new regulations Monday to implement central provisions of President Obama's healthcare law, including its controversial Medicaid expansion.

The Health and Human Services Department gave states and insurance plans more information about the Medicaid expansion, as well as the creation of new insurance exchanges where people will be able to shop for private insurance.

The Democratic senator helped create the Children's Health Insurance Program and shaped the healthcare law.