Virginia Senate Republicans just torpedoed the state’s Medicaid expansion

February 22, 2018 health care, medicaid, News

Just four months ago, Virginia’s gubernatorial race saw historic voter turnout — as casting ballots at the time meant extending Medicaid coverage to 400,000 people. On Thursday, voting paid off.

Virginia is currently one of 18 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) despite a majority of residents’ support. But the state is inching closer to expanding Medicaid insurance: The Republican-controlled House on Thursday overwhelming vote...

As Some Got Free Health Care, Gwen Got Squeezed: An Obamacare Dilemma

February 19, 2018February 20, 2018 Health Insurance and Managed Care, medicaid, News, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)

President Trump’s efforts to undermine the health law have widened the gap between those who get government aid and those who don’t, deepening resentments.

How Trump’s budget would cut the safety net for the poorest Americans

February 13, 2018 Donald Trump, medicaid, News, Trump administration, US news, US politics

Trump’s vision for the budget adds to the deficit while cutting domestic programs such as food stamps that benefit people in need
Donald Trump’s budget proposal, unveiled on Monday, revived his calls for big cuts to domestic programs that benefit the poor and middle class, such as food stamps, as well as plans to entirely eliminate several arts and earth sciences funding.
The president, who is looking for large increases in military spending, is also proposing work requirements...

Trump’s budget cuts Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, breaking core campaign promise

February 12, 2018 Donald Trump, health care, medicaid, Medicare, News

When he began his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to “save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts.”

This is a promise, however, President Trump would like to break. Trump’s 2018 budget proposal that would cut all three programs, which help the most vulnerable in American society, by billions of dollars.

Fox News’s website tells readers that Medicare is spared “as he promised during the 2016 campaign,” but a cursory...

Adding work rules to expand Medicaid is a false choice, activists say

February 12, 2018 health care, medicaid, News, politics

A lot has changed since Virginia’s gubernatorial race last November yielded the highest voter turnout in 20 years. Then, health care moved people to the polls, as casting ballots at the time meant extending health care to 400,000 people. Despite historic Democrat gains, Republicans maintained control of the state house. Now, Medicaid expansion is subject to unprecedented conditions.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to expand Medicaid eligibility to people making up to 133 ...

Kentucky Rushes to Remake Medicaid as Other States Prepare to Follow

February 10, 2018 Health Insurance and Managed Care, medicaid, News, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), Trump, Donald J

The state will require many people to work, volunteer or train for a job to qualify for coverage — and to prove it with frequent documentation.

The Trump administration wants to allow states to impose lifetime coverage limits on Medicaid

February 6, 2018 health care, medicaid, News, Trump administration

The Trump administration is taking aim at Medicaid yet again, specifically with lifetime coverage limits, according to a McClatchy report Monday evening.

Just weeks after unveiling guidance that will allow states to impose Medicaid work requirements, Trump’s Health and Human Services agency is reportedly attempting to limit the number of months adults have access to the safety net program. The cap, if approved, would be the first of its kind in Medicaid’s history.

ThinkProgress

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West Virginia’s billionaire governor pushes for barriers to welfare and Medicaid

February 6, 2018 health, medicaid, News

Months after rejecting a Kentucky-style work requirement for Medicaid in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice now seems to be moving in the opposite direction — with assistance from the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) ally and an affiliate of the Koch-funded State Policy Network.

The apparent switch is nothing new for Justice, who made a leap into politics when he ran for governor of West Virginia as a Democrat ...

Work rules, drug tests, and time limits: When the GOP war on welfare comes for Medicaid

February 5, 2018 health, health care, Health Care Reform, medicaid, News

Thomas Penister was uninsured for years after serving time in prison. In 2015, he applied for Medicaid coverage to see a primary care doctor as his mental health problems became debilitating. He was relieved to finally discover what was wrong: his doctor diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit disorder, severe sleep apnea (a common nighttime breathing disorder), and anxiety.

Continued treatment of these illnesses allowed him to get his life back, he said...

U.S. Pays Billions for ‘Assisted Living,’ but What Does It Get?

February 3, 2018 Health Insurance and Managed Care, medicaid, News

Federal investigators say they have found huge gaps in the regulation of assisted living facilities that take care of Medicaid beneficiaries.