States Cut Medicaid Coverage Further

[babylonsister]

States Cut Medicaid Coverage Further
Region Is Among Areas Where Poor Are Affected

By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 26, 2008; Page A01


States from Rhode Island to California are being forced to curtail Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, as they struggle to cope with the deteriorating economy.

With revenue falling at the same time that more people are losing their jobs and private health coverage, states already have pared their programs and many are looking at deeper cuts for the coming year. Already, 19 states -- including Maryland and Virginia -- and the District of Columbia have lowered payments to hospitals and nursing homes, eliminated coverage for some treatments, and forced some recipients out of the insurance program completely.

Many are halting payments for health-care services not required by the federal government, such as physical therapy, eyeglasses, hearing aids and hospice care. A few states are requiring poor patients to chip in more toward their care.

"It's not a pretty list at all," said Michael Hales, Medicaid director in Utah.

Medicaid, a central piece of the Great Society safety net created in the 1960s, is the nation's largest source of government health insurance. It covered 50 million Americans last year. The program is a shared responsibility of the federal government and the states, with federal money paying an average of 57 percent of the bills and states providing the rest.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122501148.html?hpid=topnews

[Lasher]

1. When did we get to the point where Medicaid spending was optional?

And funding for yet another new monster aircraft carrier wasn't?