Oregon Officials May Be Nearing Budget Deal That Would Avert Cuts In Medicaid

The Oregonian:
Kate Brown And Oregon Lawmakers Consider Health Care Taxes To Fund Medicaid

Gov. Kate Brown, lawmakers and the health care industry could be nearing a deal to avert cuts to Oregon’s Medicaid program in the next two-year budget. “Everybody’s been working super hard on this,” the governor’s health policy advisor Jeremy Vandehey said in an interview Thursday. … Solving the $882 million shortfall in the Oregon Health Authority budget is key to closing the $1.6 billion hole in the next two-year general fund budget. In April, top Democrat budget writers warned they would have to throw 350,000 low-income Oregonians off Medicaid and cut a number of other vital programs unless the Legislature raises $575 million in new revenue. (Borrud, 5/12)

Omaha World-Herald:
State’s New Medicaid Managed Care System Blamed For Problems With Billing And Getting Approval For Care

Nebraska’s new system for administering the bulk of its Medicaid program has gotten off to a rocky start. Nearly five months after its launch, the system has left behavioral health and home health providers fuming over unpaid claims and frustrated about getting care authorized for patients. Unpaid Medicaid claims topped $300,000 for one agency, prompting it to take out a line of credit for the first time in its 44 years. Providers also are worrying about how long they can afford to keep seeing Medicaid patients. (Stoddard, 5/15)

Omaha World-Herald:
Medicaid Can Collect Nursing Home Room-And-Board Costs From Clients, Nebraska Supreme Court Rules

The Medicaid program can seek reimbursement from clients for nursing home room-and-board costs, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday. The high court rejected an argument from the representative of a deceased Medicaid recipient that it was “unconscionable and contrary to law” for the Department of Health and Human Services to collect most of his remaining estate to pay nonmedical expenses incurred while he was living in a nursing home. (Duggan, 5/14)

The Washington Post:
Is It A Veto Or Not? McAuliffe And GOP Fight Over Language Blocking Medicaid Expansion.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the Republican legislature have escalated a long-running fight over whether a handful of his vetoes are valid — a battle that could determine whether the Democrat is able to pull off his marquee campaign pledge to expand Medicaid before leaving office in January. McAuliffe on Friday issued an executive order directing state agencies to recognize the state budget as he sees it — including five vetoes he made to various parts of the two-year spending plan. One of those vetoes, issued a year ago, rejects language that the General Assembly had inserted to prevent him from expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act without its permission. (Vozzella, 5/12)

California Healthline:
Fearing Deportation, Parents Worry About Undocumented Kids In Medi-Cal

Luz felt relieved and grateful when she learned that her 16-year-old son qualified for full coverage under Medi-Cal. Now, she worries that the information she provided to the government health program could put her family at risk of deportation. Luz’s son is one of nearly 190,000 children who have enrolled in Medi-Cal since California opened it to undocumented children last year. Luz, her husband and her son came to Merced, Calif., from Mexico without papers about 10 years ago. Luz asked that the family’s last name not be used, for fear of being identified by federal immigration authorities. (Ibarra, 5/15)