Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Medicaid News In Louisiana, Massachusetts, Washington State

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 03 Apr 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Summaries of recent news about Medicaid in Louisiana, Massachusetts and Washington state appear below.

• Louisiana: Louisiana will face an even larger Medicaid budget shortfall than expected because it will receive fewer federal matching dollars for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The federal government will cover 63.1% of the costs of Medicaid, instead of the 67.6% it contributed this year -- a difference that amounts to millions of dollars. State Health Secretary Alan Levine said the federal government is reducing its contribution to the state because Louisiana's per capita personal income taxes increased on average over the last three years. However, Levine said those figures are inflated because much of the income is from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita recovery efforts. The Federal Funds Information for States estimates that Louisiana will lose $268 million in health care dollars in a single federal fiscal year (Millhollon, Baton Rouge Advocate, 3/31).
  
  
• Massachusetts: Reports of fraud, abuse and neglect in Medicaid's home health care program have tripled over the past 10 years as the state significantly increased funding for the program, according to the state auditor's office, the Boston Globe reports. The program pays for personal attendants for beneficiaries with disabilities. A state audit last year found $610,000 in erroneous overpayments for personal care attendant services in 2005. In response to the trend, the auditor's office, the state attorney general and federal health care agencies launched a task force to investigate major fraud cases involving home health care (Abel, Boston Globe, 3/28).
  
  
• Washington state: A U.S. District Court judge in Washington has issued a temporary injunction blocking the state from imposing a rule that would cut Medicaid reimbursements for brand-name prescription drugs, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports. The rule was set to take effect on Wednesday (Stucke, Spokane Spokesman-Review, 4/1). Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) ordered a 6% reduction in Medicaid pharmacy reimbursements for brand-name drugs to save more than $100 million between 2009 and 2011. Walgreen said that as a result of "extreme reimbursement cuts," it would withdraw 44 pharmacies in the state from the program as of May 1. Those pharmacies represent 60% of the company's Medicaid business in the state (Kell, Wall Street Journal, 4/1). The Washington State Pharmacy Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association filed a lawsuit protesting the cuts. Judge Robert Bryan scheduled a hearing on the matter for April 9 (Spokane Spokesman-Review, 4/1).

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