Preparing for Florida’s shift to a statewide Medicaid managed-care system, 20 health companies and organizations are interested in competing for contracts to serve seniors who need long-term care, reports Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida. Potential bidders faced a deadline last week to submit non-binding letters of intent that signaled their interest in [...]
Aaron Carroll examines why Medicaid funding is hard to cut: The biggest share of the pie, or the greatest percentage of Medicaid money, is spent on the blind and disabled. It’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to cut care from that group. The next largest share of Medicaid goes to the elderly. Yes, even after [...]
Federal officials Tuesday temporarily extended Florida’s Medicaid managed-care pilot through Dec. 15, amid negotiations about continuing the program through June 2014, reports the News Service of Florida. Florida Medicaid director Justin Senior told the state’s Low Income Pool Council that he thinks negotiations are getting close to the “finish line.” The pilot was originally supposed [...]
In a pair of rulings that could have far-reaching implications, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected key parts of arbitration agreements that would have limited legal damages against nursing homes. The rulings dealt with a common practice of nursing homes asking incoming residents or their families to sign agreements that call for using arbitration [...]
Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, implored attorneys last week to reach agreement about compensation for Eric Brody, who suffered debilitating injuries in a 1998 car accident with a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, reports the News Service of Florida. With a lobbying battle looming about a Brody claims bill, House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter [...]
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Elizabeth Dudek on Friday named Justin Senior as deputy secretary for Medicaid. Senior has served as acting deputy secretary since September, when former Medicaid director Roberta Bradford left the agency. Senior also has served as AHCA general counsel. “Justin is well versed in Medicaid issues, including related litigation; is [...]
Gov. Rick Scott on Friday echoed what several Republican governors have argued for years: that the federal government should simply send money to the state for health care with no strings attached, reports the News Service of Florida. “For the federal government to be able to dictate to us how we spend our money makes [...]
Simon Lazarus and Dahlia Lithwick parse one of the most obscure, but possibly consequential, parts of the pending health care litigation: [T]he real surprise [was that] the court also agreed to hear a fourth issue, also for an hour: the claim of the 26 Republican state officials that the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid coverage should be struck [...]
Federal health officials Monday approved another temporary extension of Florida’s Medicaid managed-care pilot through Nov. 30, reports the News Service of Florida. Federal and state officials are trying to finalize details on continuing the controversial pilot through June 2014. The pilot was scheduled to expire June 30, but the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid [...]
It is a busy week as lawmakers return for a full committee week, and one in which many committees will really begin to move through actual legislation. Several big issues will at least be talked about in committees, from PIP auto insurance fraud to the federal health care challenge to prison sentencing. Also the effort [...]
