With passage of federal health insurance reform last March, the clock began ticking for states to begin work implementing the complex bill. For state leaders, Medicaid expansion and the logistics behind setting up health insurance exchanges pose some of the bill’s biggest challenges, says Jack Meyer, professor at the University of Maryland and principal at [...]
Colorado is getting a $1 million federal grant to help keep an eye on proposed health insurance premium increases ahead of new federal health care reform rules. The state will also be able to take action against insurers deemed to be seeking unreasonable rate hikes. The grant award was part of a larger group of [...]
New Mexico has expanded its Health Care Reform Leadership Team into a full fledged Office of Health Care Reform tasked with implementing the state’s plan for federal heath care reform legislation passed earlier this year. Last month, the leadership team presented a strategic plan outlining how federal health care reform requirements will be managed in [...]
Maine residents will now be able to go online to learn about the benefits of federal health care reform. The state launched a new website yesterday which offers a full outline of the Affordable Care Act as well as Maine’s plan for implementation. The site will provide updated information about the state’s efforts with health [...]
Connecticut Governor Judi Rell announced yesterday the launch of a statewide insurance plan for individuals with pre-existing conditions. According to the governor, the new plans will be administered through the state’s Department of Social Services.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services announced a pilot program to expand access to information and streamline communications between child services agencies across the state. The live test phase is scheduled for completion at the end of this month, where it will be released statewide to 5,000 users.
Colorado will be opening a new temporary insurance pool for people with pre-existing conditions. Under the plan, the state will offer coverage until new federal health care reforms beginning in 2014. Colorado will be one of 30 states that have decided to start offering the temporary coverage ahead of federal requirements. Residents will have to [...]
As Congress gets set to break, a bipartisan group of Governors have joined together to ask Congress and the Obama Administration for an extension of the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages funding. The Governors say that without the extension, their states may be forced to make harsh cuts to already slashed budgets. As of now, the [...]
Deliotte has issued a new report – “Medicaid Long-term Care: The Ticking Time Bomb,” which examines the long term impact that unchecked Medicaid spending will have on state budgets. According to the report, without serious action from state governments’ cost obligations to Medicaid enrollees could take over 35% of discretionary budget spending over time. CivSource [...]
Yesterday, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that the state will be awarding $9.8 million in grants to support stem cell research projects at the University of Connecticut and Yale. The money comes from the state’s Stem Cell Research Fund, created in 2005 to support research in this area. Connecticut is only the third state [...]
