Legal Challenge To Medicaid Work Requirements Already Brewing, But CMS Says Law Is On Its Side
Critics of the new guidelines that will allow states to impose the requirements on some of their Medicaid enrollees say the policy is a contradiction of the purpose of Medicaid, and thus needs an act of Congress to change it. But CMS Administrator Seema Verma says she thinks the agency acted well within its rights. Meanwhile, outlets offer a look on where state leaders stand on the issue.
Modern Healthcare:
CMS Maintains Medicaid Work Requirements Can Withstand Legal Challenges
The CMS is confident that its decision to approve states' Medicaid work requirement waivers can withstand any litigation challenging the policy shift. On Thursday morning, the CMS issued new guidance intended to help states reshape their Medicaid programs. The agency spelled out criteria for states to follow when applying for waivers to add such things as work requirements for beneficiaries. (Weinstock and Dickson, 1/11)
The Hill:
CMS Pressed To Give More Time For Comment On Medicaid-Work Changes
The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is pressing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to give the public more time to comment on state proposals to impose work requirements in the Medicaid program. NHeLP sent a letter to the agency just hours after CMS unveiled guidance letting states apply for waivers requiring certain Medicaid enrollees work or participate in community engagement in order to get health coverage. The guidance marked a major policy shift in the joint federal-state health program for low-income and disabled Americans. (Roubein, 1/11)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Health Insurer Centene Is Sued Over Lack Of Medical Coverage
People who bought policies from Centene, a large for-profit health insurance company, filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday claiming the company does not provide adequate access to doctors in 15 states. “Members have difficulty finding — and in many cases cannot find — medical providers,” who will accept patients covered under policies sold by Centene, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington State. (Abelson, 1/11)
The Hill:
GOP Chairman Eyes Floor Action For CHIP Next Week
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said on Thursday that he is aiming to bring a six-year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to the floor next week. Speaking to reporters, Walden pointed to new Congressional Budget Office estimates as the catalyst that broke the logjam over funding for the program, which covers 9 million children. (Weixel, 1/11)
The New York Times:
Opioid Addiction Knows No Color, But Its Treatment Does
On a street lined with garbage trucks, in an industrial edge of Brooklyn, dozens of people started filing into an unmarked building before the winter sun rose. Patients gather here every day to visit the Vincent Dole Clinic, where they are promised relief from their cravings and from the constant search for heroin on the streets. Robert Perez exited the clinic on a recent Wednesday and walked toward the subway, along the Gowanus Canal. Within the clinic’s antiseptic blue walls, he had just swallowed a red liquid from a small plastic cup. The daily dose of methadone helps Mr. Perez, 47, manage withdrawal symptoms as he tries to put decades of drug abuse behind him. (del Real, 1/12)
Stateline:
Injection Sites Provide Safe Spots To Shoot Up
In about one hundred locations across Canada, Europe and Australia, supervised drug injection facilities allow visitors to inject heroin and other drugs in a clean, well-lighted space under the watchful eye of trained personnel who can rescue them if they overdose. Tens of thousands of drug users have visited the facilities, thousands have overdosed and, researchers say, no deaths have been reported. Studies show that a substantial number of drug users who visit safe injection sites end up in treatment, which is routinely offered to them. Research also has shown that the facilities help contain hepatitis C and HIV infections and are a cost-effective way to save lives. (Vestal, 1/12)
The Washington Post:
New Study On Abortion Pill Shows High Success, Low Rate Of Complications
Ever since the abortion pill RU-486 began to hit the market in the 1980s, questions have lingered about its safety, especially for women who take it in countries where terminating an unwanted pregnancy is restricted and they cannot openly seek help from a medical professional if something goes wrong. As reports of deaths and injuries grew in the early 2000s and the pill became a big political issue, studies were launched to try to get more data on the safety question. The results are starting to come out. (Cha, 1/11)