As Arkansas’ New Medicaid Requirements Go Into Effect, 7,000 Beneficiaries Fail To Report 80 Hours Of Work

The Associated Press:
7,000 People Fail To Meet Arkansas Medicaid Work Requirement

More than 7,000 people on Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion didn’t meet a requirement that they report at least 80 hours of work in June and face the threat of losing their coverage if they fail to comply sometime before the end of this year, state officials said Friday. Arkansas’ requirement took effect last month. Participants in the program lose coverage if they don’t meet the work requirement for three months in a calendar year. (DeMillo, 7/13)

Politico:
Medicaid Stalemate Could Roil Maine Governor’s Race

The race to succeed Maine Gov. Paul LePage is shaping up to be a referendum on the controversial GOP firebrand — and his refusal to implement an expansion of Medicaid that voters strongly backed last year. The Obamacare coverage expansion that would extend health benefits to 80,000 low-income adults remains stalled after months of foot-dragging by LePage, who has battled in court and with the state legislature to block the program. (Pradhan, 7/14)

The Associated Press:
Oklahoma Medicaid Approved For Drug Pricing Experiment

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has approved Oklahoma’s Medicaid program for a first-in-the-nation drug pricing experiment that supporters say could save taxpayer dollars and provide patients with the most effective medications for their ailments. Under the “value-based purchasing” program approved in late June, the state and a pharmaceutical company would agree to a set payment if its medication works as advertised, but only a fraction of that if the drug is not as effective as promised. (Miller and Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/13)

The CT Mirror:
DSS Increasing Staff At Its Call Center To Combat Long Wait Times

The commissioner of the state Department of Social Services says his agency is increasing staff at its call center to reduce long wait times. Commissioner Roderick L. Bremby wrote about the increase in staffing in a letter to a group of Medicaid advocates, providers, and clients who recently penned a letter to the commissioner demanding action. (Rigg, 7/13)

Kaiser Health News:
In Florida, Midterm Elections Hold Faint Hope For Medicaid Expansion

Can the deep-red Florida Statehouse follow Virginia and expand Medicaid?Highly unlikely anytime soon, many state political analysts say.It’s been three years since the Florida legislature last debated — and overwhelmingly rejected —Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans — who have controlled the governor’s office and both legislative chambers for nearly all of the past two decades — have shown no interest since then in pursuing the policy that would make about 660,000 uninsured adults eligible for the government insurance program for the poor. (Galewitz, 7/16)

And the Trump administration says the war on poverty is largely over —

The Washington Post:
The Trump Administration Has A New Argument For Dismantling The Social Safety Net: It Worked.

Republicans for years have proclaimed the federal government’s decades-old War on Poverty a failure. “Americans are no better off today than they were before the War on Poverty began in 1964,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) wrote in his 2016 plan to dramatically scale back the federal safety net. Now the Trump administration is pitching a new message on anti-poverty programs, saying efforts that Republicans had long condemned as ineffective have already worked. (Stein and Jan, 7/14)