Appeals court rules against Arizona's mandatory co-pays for Medicaid recipients

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Arizona's assessment of mandatory co-pays for some Medicaid recipients. The Arizona state legislature originally began the implementation of mandatory co-pays in 2003 for some patients, with payments that ranged from $4-$30. According to the policy, if the patient could not pay the co-pay, the medical provider could refuse to provide health services to the patient.

In November 2010, the state started to assess co-pays again and a class-action lawsuit was initiated. The lawsuit claimed that the medically needy shouldn't be required to make co-payments for health services, that the co-pays violated the Medicaid Act cost-sharing restrictions and that notices patients received about changes in their health coverage was inadequate.

Colorado scaling back Medicaid program after understimating cost

The State of Colorado is scaling back its Medicaid program after extending it to cover poor adults without children two years ago. The state has now found that the number of people eligible for coverage is close to three times as high and the cost of insuring them is almost nine times the first estimated numbers. Original projections were for an additional 49,200 to join the program at a cost of $197.4 million per year, with annual cost per person to be $292 per month. New estimates show that the costs may be $900 per month per individual. The Department of Health Care and Financing will plan to cap the number of people served by the program to just 10,000, with an estimated cost of $190 million in two years.

Arkansas will target nine areas for Medicaid reform

Arkansas officials have selected nine ares that they want to focus on in changing how Medicaid pays for services. The state was provided approval to move forward with plans to switch from a fee-for-service model that Medicaid uses to paying for partnerships of local providers for episodes of care instead of individual treatment. The areas included: pregnancy and neonatal care, ADHD, type 2 diabetes, back pain, cardiovascular disease, upper respiratory infections, developmental disabilities, long term care and prevention. The Arkansas Medicaid program still faces a shortfall of at least $60 million in the budget that begins July, 2012.

Friday Roundup

Here is a listing of articles of interest published within the last 7-10 days:

Health
1. Embracing incentives for efficient health care, WSJ.com, 11/28/2010
Brief Intro: "Spurred by incentives in the federal health-overhaul law, hospitals and doctors around the country are beginning to create new entities that aim to provide more efficient health care. But these efforts are already raising questions about whether they can truly save money, or if they might actually drive costs higher."

2. Hospital train heals Argentina's poor, Yahoo News, 11/28/2010
Brief Intro: "Children from this desperately poor village in northern Argentina rushed to welcome a special hospital train rolling into town, their only chance to receive specialized care for a year."

Vulnerable Populations
1. Putting down textbooks to provide for triplets, NYT.com, 11/27/2010
Brief Intro: A young teenage mother becomes pregnant with triplets and has to forgo finishing her Associate's degree to care for her children.

Education
1. NAACP educational summit to look at return of segregation, CNN.com, 11/29/2010
Brief Intro: "The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization wants to sound the alarm on school resegregation, and is hoping a national educational summit will bring attention to what its members consider a huge problem, according to a news release from the NAACP."

New York Asks to Bar Use of Food Stamps to Buy Sodas

According to an article published in the New York Times, Mayor Bloomberg is looking to ban the purchase of sodas with food stamps. The request was made to the USDA and is part of an aggressive anti-obesity push by the mayor that has included advertisements, stricter rules on food sold in schools, and an unsuccessful attempt to impose a tax on the product.

The request was a ban for two years to study whether or not it would have a positive impact on health and whether a permanent ban was merited.

ColorLines: Race and Economic Recovery

This 28 minute documentary reviews how the economic recovery has helped some and left others in the dust. Those left behind in the recovery include those who are lacking either in education or skills and are finding it hard to find employment that will allow them to adequately support their families. The role of race is reviewed in the hardships that many of these people are experiencing.