Suing Medicaid is difficult so other civil rights groups are monitoring this case, but experts say similar actions elsewhere could be difficult to win. In other Medicaid news, Virginia advocates raise concerns about the delay in reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a successful program to help low-income mothers is profiled in North Carolina and two transgender women sue Iowa’s program for failing to cover sex-reassignment surgery.
Stateline:
Are Medicaid’s Payment Rates So Low They’re Discriminatory?
Civil rights lawyers suing the state of California over low Medicaid payments say advocates elsewhere should pay attention to a potentially novel legal tactic — accusing the Golden State of racial discrimination in order to increase funding — but some health law experts and even sympathetic observers say they’re watching with some skepticism. (Beitsch, 9/22)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
As Tens Of Thousands Of Children’s Health Insurance Hangs In The Balance, Virginia Waits For Answers From Congress
Virginia will run out of money to provide health care to 65,000 children from low-income families by January if federal lawmakers fail to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is set to expire when the federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30, said Linda Nablo, chief deputy director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, which administers the services in question. (O’Connor and Evans, 9/21)
WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.):
Medicaid Pregnancy Program Helps Maternal Mortality Rates In NC
It is an unpleasant statistic — more mothers die during, or just after, giving birth in the United States than any other developed country. Black women are at particular risk. But in North Carolina, the maternal mortality of black women has decreased by 40 percent in the last 15 years, and unlike most of the country, the rate of maternal mortality for white and black women is about the same. A state-wide Medicaid program is credited with the gains. (9/21)
Des Moines Register:
Transgender Women Sue Iowa Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Medicaid Coverage Ban
Two transgender women are suing the Iowa Department of Human Services, saying the agency’s ban on Medicaid coverage for transition-related medical services such as sex-reassignment surgery is illegal and unconstitutional. (Crowder, 9/21)
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