Medicaid News
Coverage of Medicaid programs, reforms, and government spending.
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opinion
Medicaid Waivers Provide a Pathway for Health Care Reform
Medicaid—the welfare program that provides health care to vulnerable, low-income individuals and families —needs to be reformed, and soon. It’s consuming an ever-larger share of spending at the federal and state level and squeezing out other public policy priorities. At the same time, many of the rules governing Medicaid limit the ability to design and… -
opinion
Reform the Federal-State Medicaid Partnership to Better Help Those in Need and Save Money
President Donald Trump’s budget includes Medicaid reforms that would restore accountability and improve the federal-state partnership. Predictably, the left is on the attack, contending that these “cuts” would harm the poor and vulnerable. In fact, the president’s proposals would reduce improper federal spending, which now exceeds $75 billion annually, preserve public resources for those most… -
news
California Lawmakers Move to Expand Medicaid for Illegal Immigrants
The California Assembly voted 44-11 in favor of a bill last week that broadens state Medicaid coverage to include illegal immigrants to the tune of more than $3 billion annually. Under federal law, Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, provides health care to low-income citizens. Assembly Bill 4, if passed, would eliminate the existing citizenship… -
opinion
North Carolina Leaders Are Embracing a Flawed Medicaid Financing Scheme. It’s Time to End It.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was right when he called it a $40 billion scam. That’s how Biden once characterized Medicaid provider taxes. States impose these taxes on hospitals or other providers to recover a portion of state Medicaid costs while still drawing down more federal payments. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and state legislators… -
news
Idaho Voters Ponder Ballot Question on Expanding Medicaid
Idaho Republicans have made it clear to voters: Reject a proposition on the ballot that would expand eligibility for Medicaid as part of Obamacare. Nearly 30 Republican members of the Idaho House of Representatives and legislative candidates announced their opposition to Proposition 2, citing concerns that the ballot initiative would take away funding from other… -
news
Trump Administration Takes on Unions Over ‘Skimming’ Medicaid Funds
Sally Coomer of Seattle, who cares for her disabled adult daughter at home, doesn’t like the fact that union dues are deducted from the Medicaid payment she gets for her services under a Washington state policy. “The money that is taken out in union dues, if it was not siphoned off, could be used to… -
opinion
States Need Congress to Break Obamacare’s Medicaid Gridlock
Recent attention to a court decision against a waiver granted to Kentucky to make work requirements part of its Medicaid program should spur congressional action on Obamacare to give states greater flexibility to help those in need. Under the current Obamacare structure, states that want to help low-income people get care and coverage are pushed… -
news
California Lawmakers Look to Extend State Medicaid to Illegal Immigrants
Both houses of the California Legislature have voted to lift the requirement of legal residency in the state to be eligible to receive the state version of Medicaid, adding to the state’s growing list of policies favoring illegal immigrants. The separate bills in the state Assembly and state Senate come as the state faces a… -
opinion
Some Virginia Lawmakers Want to Expand Medicaid. Why That’s a Bad Idea.
Every year, we see renewed efforts to push states to adopt Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Virginia drew national attention this year when its House of Delegates signaled that it was warming to an expansion. Many thought the tide had shifted. But cooler minds prevailed in the Senate, hopefully keeping Virginia from making a huge mistake. As… -
opinion
Planned Parenthood Loses Legal Battle Over Medicaid Funding in Arkansas
This week, a federal appeals court upheld Arkansas’ decision to cancel its Medicaid provider agreement with Planned Parenthood, which allowed Medicaid recipients to receive non-abortion services at Planned Parenthood clinics. This is good news for other states that decide to stop allowing taxpayers’ money to flow to Planned Parenthood. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced in… -
opinion
We Hear You: The Minimum Wage, Welfare, Medicaid … and Walling Off the Eiffel Tower
Editor's note: Jarrett Stepman's commentaries for The Daily Signal ring bells with readers. See for yourself in this selection of responses.—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Jarrett Stepman writes in opposition to Seattle's having raised the minimum wage: "Lincoln saw the ‘opportunity society’ and reaping the fruits of one’s labor as fundamental to the growth and… -
opinion
School-Based Health Services and Medicaid in Context: A Better Way to Pay
Congressional efforts to reform health care include capping federal funding and streamlining Medicaid to refocus it on its original, neediest recipients and slow the rate of growth for what has become an expensive, unrestricted entitlement threatening the future of the safety net for those in greatest need. Yet critics argue that such efforts would adversely… -
opinion
Democrats’ Fearmongering Over Medicaid Ignores Just How Bad the Program Is
Die-hard Obamacare defenders are out in force to protest Republican repeal efforts. The protesters are falsely claiming the repeal will gut Medicaid, causing frail, indigent seniors to be evicted from nursing homes. It’s sheer demagoguery. But even these phony claims could have redeeming value if they get the public to take a closer look at… -
opinion
Obama Says Health Bill Will ‘Ruin’ Medicaid. Here’s Why the Program Needs Reform.
The much-anticipated Senate health care bill dropped Thursday morning, and the hot takes poured in. While analysts are scrambling to understand the details of the legislation, one of the biggest early criticisms is that it eviscerates Medicaid, which is a public health care program. Liberal pundits and legislators reacted by saying that the bill would… -
opinion
Trump’s Budget Puts Medicaid on a Path to Long-Needed Reform
Medicaid, the huge government health program for the poor and the indigent, is broken. Both the Trump administration’s recent budget submission and the House-passed American Health Care Act, designed to partially repeal and replace Obamacare, propose Medicaid fixes. Dubious assumptions burden the Trump budget proposal, and the House health care reform bill labors under some… -
opinion
Kansas Almost Voted to Expand Medicaid. What Other States Should Learn From This Near-Mistake.
To expand Medicaid or to not expand Medicaid? That’s still the question facing lawmakers in Kansas and 18 other states. Though the Kansas Legislature voted for expansion last week, Gov. Sam Brownback promptly vetoed the measure. Legislators then tried to override the veto early this week, but fell three votes short of the two-thirds threshold… -
opinion
Work Requirements in Medicaid Won’t Work. Here’s a Serious Alternative.
Recent reports indicate that the Trump administration and House Republicans are considering “work requirements” in Medicaid as part of their overall health care reform package. Under the proposed policy, governors would be given the option of requiring able-bodied adults without dependent children enrolled in Medicaid to hold a job, perform community service, or undertake training… -
opinion
Maine Rejected Medicaid Expansion and Found Success. Now, House Health Bill Would Send Us Backward.
As conversations swirl on Capitol Hill and across the nation regarding the repeal of Obamacare and Medicaid reform, I would like to describe Maine’s success in reducing Medicaid enrollment by 24 percent in the last five years and why our experience is relevant to the ongoing debate. In our corner of the United States, we… -
news
Debate on Obamacare Repeal Centers on Medicaid. Here’s How States That Expanded It Are Doing.
As lawmakers begin to debate a GOP bill to replace Obamacare, both Republicans and Democrats say they worry that Americans who gained insurance under the health care law will lose the coverage once Congress repeals it. For many, that worry stems from potential changes to Medicaid proposed by Republicans in their plan to replace the… -
opinion
Big Challenges Await Seema Verma, Trump’s Choice to Oversee Medicare, Medicaid
The Senate Finance Committee has completed nearly four hours of confirmation hearings for Seema Verma, President Donald Trump’s nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A Senate hearing is always a challenge for a new administration, but the Hill got it right: Verma, the daughter of immigrants from India, “cruised” through the…