Low-income residents of Kentucky who gained coverage under the expansion of Medicaid are concerned that the governor’s plan for an overhaul could leave them without benefits again. In Connecticut, the Medicaid expansion helped fund services for people when they get out of prison, but that could be threatened by GOP efforts to revamp the health law.
Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal:
Gov. Matt Bevin’s Likely Medicaid Shake-Up Scares Kentucky Patients
Now, having just gained health coverage through Kentucky’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, [David] Thompson is hurrying to schedule dental and eye exams — care he said he urgently needs but realizes could be eliminated under major changes to Kentucky’s Medicaid program proposed by Gov. Matt Bevin. … Kentucky is moving closer to an overhaul of the state’s Medicaid program Bevin has said is aimed at controlling costs and encouraging more personal responsibility in consumers, changes that include elimination of basic dental and vision benefits for most “able-bodied” adults who instead would have to earn them through a “rewards” program. (Yetter, 4/21)
Hartford (Conn.) Courant:
Medicaid, ACA Uncertainty Threaten Success Of Ex-Offenders’ Health Care Programs
Since 2011, Connecticut has issued more than 39,000 new Medicaid cards to prisoners returning to communities, connecting them to health care services with the goal of keeping them healthy and out of prison. This initiative, which gives ex-offenders the opportunity to see a primary care physician on a regular basis and access critical mental health and drug-abuse treatment programs, exists because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Medicaid pays most of the costs. … But the re-entry health care programs, which rely on generous reimbursements under Medicaid, are in jeopardy, as President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress continue to discuss plans to replace the ACA and trim Medicaid funding. (Wisnieski, 4/21)
And in Ohio —
Columbus Dispatch:
Change In 52-Year-Old Medicaid Rule Will Expand Mental-Health Care
A change in a federal Medicaid rule that has stood for 52 years is expected to allow more Ohioans to get badly needed mental-health services. Effective July 1, Medicaid recipients ages 21 to 64 who are in a managed-care plan will be eligible for up to 15 days of inpatient mental-health treatment. (Johnson, 4/23)
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