States Are Limiting Medicaid Hospital Coverage In Search For Savings
In the latest sign of how desperate they are to control rising Medicaid costs, a small but growing number of states are sharply limiting hospital coverage — to as few as 10 days a year.
Advocates for the poor and hospital executives say the moves will restrict patients’ access to care , force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients.
States defend the actions as a way to balance budgets hammered by the economic downturn and the end of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding this summer – funds that had helped prop up Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor.
Arizona, which last year received national attention for stopping coverage of certain transplants for several months, plans to limit adult Medicaid recipients to 25 days of hospital coverage a year , starting as soon as the end of October.
Hawaii is going even further. In April 2012, it plans to cut Medicaid coverage to 10 days a year -- the fewest of any state, experts say.
Both efforts are pending federal approval, which state officials consider likely because several other states already restrict hospital coverage, among them Alabama (16 days), Arkansas (24 days), Florida (45 days), and Mississippi (30 days). Last year, Massachusetts started a 20-day per stay limit.
Private health insurers generally don’t limit hospital coverage, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group.
In Alabama, which has had a 16-day limit for more than decade, hospitals have billed patients for days not covered by Medicaid, said Larry Gardella, director of advocacy at Legal Services Alabama. Because poor patients often are unable to pay, the hospitals typically must pick up the cost, he said.
Another problem: Patients may also delay seeking elective services if they’ve already reached the coverage limit, Gardella said.
Rosemary Blackmon, executive vice president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said “for the most part hospitals do what they can” to provide care to Medicaid patients despite the limits.
Mississippi Health Insurance Coverage - News
To deal with the higher costs, states are requiring more Medicaid recipients to enroll in managed-care plans run by private insurers, cutting reimbursement rates to hospitals and doctors, and reducing benefits. The federal health law requires states to
Halstead is able to benefit from her mother's health insurance plan until she's 26 because of the Affordable Health Care Act. / Ben Twingley/btwingley@pnj.com Data from the National Health Interview Survey included the percentages of uninsured people
"As governor, Johnny DuPree will work to develop a comprehensive health plan that addresses not just health care and insurance but promotes healthier lifestyles," Wasserman Schultz said at the women's rally. "He'll create the Mississippi Council on
Jacobs said she suspects that families with children who attend schools with higher exemption rates disproportionately use alternative health care, but she plans to investigate why the exemption rates are so high. "You need 95 percent coverage to
Under original Medicare, recipients age 65 and older receive Part A hospital insurance and Part B medical insurance. Recipients then decide if they should add prescription drug coverage through Medicare's Part D plan, as well as supplemental coverage,
Three vie for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner post in general ...
PASCAGOULA - Voters to choose three candidates in the race for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner in November 8 general election: Republican incumbent Commissioner Mike Chaney, Democrat Louis Fondren of Gautier, and Reform Party candidate Barbara Dale Washer .
The office has a term of four years and $ 90 000 annual salary.
The thrust of the campaign Chaney was to highlight his accomplishments during his tenure.
Among them, he said, are modernization of the department's records system; streamlining of the agent licensing process; collection of more than $4 million in refunds and additional claims for policyholders; transfer of $99.9 million to state's windpool to help stabilize rates; an increase of 125 new companies writing policies on the Coast; and a $1 million program that led to grants for homeowners who strengthened their homes against wind damage.
Fondren, meanwhile, has focused his campaign on being a "friend to policyholders" through stopping rate increases. Part of the way he would do that, he said, is to have a public actuary -- a professional who
analyzes the financial consequences of risk -- involved in insurance premium hearings.
Fondren plans to spend the few weeks before the election spreading his message both on the Coast and beyond. He plans to speak at the state nurses convention in Biloxi later this week, the AARP in Hattiesburg next week; at the Mississippi Economic Council's Hobnob Mississippi in Jackson on Nov. 2; and at the Tupelo Chamber on Nov. 4.
His finance reports show that he has raised $5,582 year-to-date, and spent $4,982 of that on items such as signs and a television ad. Donations have come from himself and the Jackson County Democratic Executive Committee.
Chaney's campaign has spent $106,302 and has $402,824 cash on hand. Expenditures include items such as website creation; catering; dinners and advertisements. He's received contributions from an array of sources, including large corporations such as Hancock Bank, Pfizer and large insurance companies, but also scores of individual donors.