"The changes will be especially hard on residents whose first language is not English and who have difficulty understanding the complex enrollment paperwork."
The paperwork sucks for us all!!!
Of course, in my world, it is never a question.
"State cuts its health coverage by $115m; Board to slow enrollment in Commonwealth Care" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | June 24, 2009
Overseers of Massachusetts’ trailblazing healthcare program made their first cuts yesterday, trimming $115 million, or 12 percent, from Commonwealth Care, which subsidizes premiums for needy residents and is the centerpiece of the 2006 law.
The board of the Connector Authority made the cuts as officials confronted two side effects of the recession: the state budget crisis and a surge in enrollment by the recently unemployed.
The largest share of the savings will come from slowing enrollment. An estimated 18,000 poor residents who qualify for full subsidies, but who forget to designate a health plan, will no longer be automatically assigned a plan and enrolled and thus could face delays in getting care.
The board also eliminated dental coverage for the poorest residents enrolled in Commonwealth Care, roughly 92,000 people who currently are the only ones in the program who receive that care. Regulators said that would save $10 million. Dental coverage was retained in the budget approved by lawmakers last week, and now it falls to the governor to decide its fate.
Need money? Here: Public Loot For Private Projects
Also hanging in the balance is the health insurance status of 28,000 legal immigrants whose Commonwealth Care coverage was dropped in the budget lawmakers approved for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Governor Deval Patrick has until Monday to decide whether to veto any of that budget, which set aside $116 million less for Commonwealth Care than he proposed.
“No decision has been made’’ on restoring immigrant coverage, said Leslie Kirwan, chairwoman of the Connector Authority board and Patrick’s secretary of administration and finance. “It’s certainly going to be at the top of our list’’ of items the governor is considering adding back to the budget, she said.
But Kirwan said the $115 million in cuts the Connector Authority board approved yesterday were merely to deal with shrinking state revenues and the rapid growth in enrollment in Commonwealth Care, which has 177,000 members and was projected to grow to 212,000 in the next year.
These cuts do not provide any wiggle room for adding back the 28,000 immigrants who are facing elimination. If the governor decides to restore coverage for the immigrants, Kirwan said, he would have to find other areas to cut in the already razor-thin budget.
Patrick Holland, the Connector Authority’s chief financial officer, said enrollment spiked during the last three months, from 165,000 to nearly 177,000 members, because so many workers are losing their jobs and, with that, employer-provided health insurance.
The progress of the Massachusetts healthcare initiative is being closely watched in Washington, where Congress is crafting national legislation to extend coverage to more Americans. The Massachusetts law, cited as one model in the national debate, requires nearly everyone to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty.
Related: Baucus Plan Allows for Fines Up to $3,800 for Failing to Get Health Insurance
The residents affected by yesterday’s cuts earn too little to be subject to the penalty. They also would be eligible for free emergency care for three months under the state’s Health Safety Net.
Leaders of Health Care for All, one of the state’s largest consumer groups, said the changes will be especially hard on residents whose first language is not English and who have difficulty understanding the complex enrollment paperwork.
But the group said state officials appear to have made the best of a bad situation. “There’s no other place to go for money,’’ said Lindsey Tucker, the organization’s healthcare reform manager. “. . . My concern is people will not get the care that they need.’’
While the group’s leaders are resigned to that cut, they said they will continue to lobby the governor to restore coverage for legal immigrants. Lawmakers said they cut this class of legal immigrants because they do not qualify for matching federal subsidies.
They say legal, but they are PRODUCTS of OUR ILLEGAL WARS, folks!!!!
Thus, they are more expensive for the state to insure. The move has enraged advocates for the immigrant community. Much of the rest of the $115 million in savings, $32 million, comes from slowing payments to the managed-care health insurance companies that won bids to offer insurance through the Commonwealth Care program. Regulators said that by slowing enrollment growth, the companies would receive less money than they had banked on when they submitted their bids earlier this year.
Kirwan stressed that when the economy improves, the changes made by the authority can be revisited. She also said the changes still protect the basic eligibility rules for the program and benefits that members receive, but put the brakes only on enrollment growth during an “unprecedented time.’’
--more--"
I'm always amazed how some get prompt action and service:
"Patrick set to keep healthcare for poor; Spending plan aids legal immigrants" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | June 28, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick plans to announce a spending proposal tomorrow that retains medical coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants who are at risk of losing it, and will also agree to ensure dental coverage for another 700,000 of the state’s poorest residents, administration officials said yesterday.
State-subsidized coverage for the two groups has been endangered this year as Patrick and lawmakers struggled to craft a budget amid an economic downturn that has sharply curtailed tax revenues. The governor will propose the healthcare spending for legal immigrants as an amendment to the state’s $27.4-billion budget that he will sign tomorrow.
Patrick’s proposal for the legal immigrants is a short-term fix that will require more work with lawmakers, who have resisted the coverage because it is especially expensive for the state. To maintain state-subsidized care for immigrants beyond August, Patrick will call on legislators, health advocates, and state regulators to patch together a long-term solution....
Yeah, the FEDS ONLY CREATE REFUGEES!
YOU have to PAY FOR THEM, taxpayers!
Maybe NOT STARTING the WARS would HELP, huh?
The 30,000 immigrants affected have “special status’’ in the immigration system and have been in the country less than five years. Many are seeking asylum from war-ravaged regions, such as Iraq, Somalia, and the Sudan.
I told you!
Advocates say the group includes people who have survived torture or were victims of human trafficking and have serious mental health and post-traumatic problems that require treatment....
SO DO OUR VETS!
Also see: Boston Globe Can't See the New Jersey Shore
For more on the abominable atrocity of U.S. torture, go HERE
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In an earlier interview with the Globe, Senator Steven Panagiotakos, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers were not targeting immigrants, but proposed the cuts because the 30,000 “special status’’ immigrants at issue do not qualify for matching federal subsidies and thus are more expensive for the state to insure.
“The governor is clearly is trying to find a way to maintain coverage despite the tremendous revenue shortfall,’’ said Brian Rosman, research director for Health Care for All, a large consumer group. He said Patrick’s plan to retain dental coverage indicates that the governor understands the importance of such care to overall health.
“We’re hopeful that these 700,000 adults don’t have to worry again this year that their dental benefits are in jeopardy,’’ Rosman said. Health and dental coverage for huge swaths of low-income residents has been in limbo for more than a month, as lawmakers and the governor hatched dueling plans to close a multibillion-dollar gap in the state’s fiscal budget....
When Patrick signs the budget tomorrow and submits his amendments and vetoes, the ball will be back in the Legislature’s court. If lawmakers choose once again to cut healthcare coverage for the legal immigrants, they must override Patrick’s amendment by a two-thirds margin vote in both the House and the Senate.
--more--"So what happened?
"Switch saves immigrants’ health care; Out-of-state insurer agrees to step in at reduced rates" by Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | September 1, 2009
Thousands of legal immigrants facing steep cuts in state-subsidized health care will keep core medical services such as routine doctor visits and hospital treatment under a plan unveiled yesterday by Governor Deval Patrick.
The initiative, which also includes prescription drugs, mental health services, and emergency care, salvages coverage for 31,000 immigrants considered to be especially vulnerable because of their low income and their status as refugees who have lived in the United States less than five years.
But.... the insurer, a subsidiary of a Missouri company, will probably lose money on the deal....
The deal announced yesterday illustrates how need and opportunity can align: The state needed someone willing to cover the immigrants at roughly one-third of what it had been spending, and the insurer, new to the state, saw an opportunity to gain a toehold in a lucrative market. The company, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts, is making its gambit aided by two powerhouses in the Boston market, Caritas Christi Health Care and Partners HealthCare.
How come PATIENTS always seem to come LAST?
Related: Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
Massachusetts Health Care Takes a Seat on the S***ter
“They’re losing money on this big time,’’ Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of health and human services, said last night in an interview. “But they’re very committed to making sure this population of legal, tax-paying immigrants gets a fair shake.’’
And yet they GOUGE the American citizen!
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In the meantime, the legal immigrants will be able to get emergency care through the state’s safety net program for impoverished patients; some of them may be eligible for MassHealth, the insurance program for the poor underwritten by the federal and state governments....
While expressing relief that an agreement had been reached, advocates for immigrants and consumers also expressed deep worries about the symbolism of offering a less-generous plan for immigrants and a more-sweeping set of services for other poor patients....
These guys are almost as bad as the you-know-whose.
