Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Examines Recent Developments in State Medicaid Programs, USA

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 12 Jun 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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The following is a summary of recent developments in states' Medicaid programs.

• Michigan: The state House on Thursday approved a $40 billion budget proposal that includes nearly $600 million less for human services than the budget proposal by Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D). Granholm has said she will veto the House's proposal because it includes a measure to cut services to a number of Medicaid beneficiaries (Christoff, Detroit Free Press, 6/10). Previously, Republican state lawmakers proposed several initiatives intended to reduce state Medicaid costs as part of an effort to balance the state budget, the Free Press reports. Proposals included requiring many Medicaid beneficiaries to pay $5 monthly premiums and copayments of $3 per doctor visit; providing a waiver or discount for premiums and copays if beneficiaries stop smoking, lose weight or engage in other healthy behavior; and cutting benefits for about 30,000 parents and caretakers for some children on Medicaid, as well as about 10,000 healthy 19- and 20-year-olds. Granholm said the plan was "unprecedented in its cruelty" (Bell, Detroit Free Press, 6/8).
  


• Tennessee: CMS on Wednesday approved the second phase of Gov. Phil Bredesen's (D) TennCare reform plan, which would limit prescription drug benefits and health care services for 396,000 adult beneficiaries, the Tennessean reports. The approval also "prepare[s] the way" for the state to keep about 97,000 of the sickest TennCare beneficiaries in the program, officials said, the Tennessean reports. The proposal would limit beneficiaries' prescription coverage to two brand-name and three generic drugs per month; introduce copayments of $3 for brand-name drugs for beneficiaries above 100% of the poverty level; eliminate coverage for over-the-counter drugs for adults, except for prenatal vitamins; eliminate private duty nursing for adults; and eliminate methadone clinic coverage. The proposal also allows the state to require prior approval of prescriptions not on an approved drug list and limits beneficiaries' right to appeals. More regulatory approvals later this year "will be needed to implement all the changes Bredesen envisions," the Tennessean reports. The changes still must be approved by U.S. District Judge John Nixon, who is scheduled to review the second phase of the plan on June 28 (Wadhwani, Tennessean, 6/9).
  


• Wisconsin: Republican leaders in the state Legislature on Wednesday announced a "two-year compromise to protect [state] Medicaid programs," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Wisconsin's Medicaid program is facing a $650 million projected budget deficit over the next two years, and state lawmakers in recent weeks had said that cuts to health care programs might be necessary. The "status quo" package announced Wednesday would continue Medicaid coverage at its current level and would increase Gov. Jim Doyle's (D) budget proposal by $364.9 million. "We gave increases and stayed with the same game plan because there's no time for reform," state Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Scott Fitzgerald (R) said. Lawmakers did not say where the funds would come from, "appearing to leave that question" for later in the week, the Journal Sentinel reports (Walters/Forster, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/8).
  

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