Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up Recent Developments In State Medicaid Programs, USA
Montana: The state Supreme Court on Dec. 6 ordered a new District Court hearing to determine whether seven women belonging to a Hutterite religious colony and their families were eligible for Medicaid, the AP/Billings Gazette reports (Cooke, AP/Billings Gazette, 12/7). The women, who are members of the King Colony Hutterite community, lost their Medicaid coverage in 2001 because the state Department of Public Health and Human Services said they were part of a community that has an estimated $2.1 million in assets. Men and women of the Hutterite faith, which has roots in the same religious movement that produced the Amish and Mennonite communities, live in communal, agricultural societies. According to the lawsuit filed by the women, the state improperly applied the religion's belief that all property belongs to the community (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/2). An attorney for the women said that because they are female they have no vote in the colony, and therefore have no way to access the colony's resources. However, the state Supreme Court ruled that the women did have access to the colony's resources, but the court also said that it was "unprepared to hold that these claimants are ineligible for Medicaid" (AP/Billings Gazette, 12/7). If the women win the District Court hearing, Montana might have to extend coverage to the 49 other Hutterite colonies in Montana, which including the King Colony totals 4,000 members, according to the national Hutterite organization (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/2).
New Mexico: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) on Dec. 5 said he would order the state Human Services Department to reverse a policy implemented last year that requires most Medicaid beneficiaries to verify their eligibility every six months, the Sante Fe New Mexican reports. Under the reversal, beneficiaries will be required to prove their eligibility once per year. Richardson said the change would increase the number of children on Medicaid by 5,000. Pam Hyde, secretary for HSD, said the state's policy had been changed last year to ensure that only people eligible for Medicaid were enrolled. Hyde said the department would still automatically close the cases of beneficiaries who do not recertify their eligibility when required. About 10,000 beneficiaries who did not recertify last year were removed from the program, about 75% of whom re-enrolled within eight months (Miles, Santa Fe New Mexican, 12/6).
"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Kaiser Raport zilnic de sãnãtate Politica de evoluþiile recente runde de pânã în programe de stat Medicaid, SUA - Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up Recent Developments In State Medicaid Programs, USA - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate