Metro Guide Online – Omaha World-Herald
Metro Guide Online – Omaha World-Herald
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Source: www.omaha.com
[Guidance Overview] CHIP Reauthorization Requires Fast Action by Group Health Plans, Including Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: “The primary purpose of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, which President Obama signed into law on February 4, 2009, is to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP or CHIP) through 2013. However, the law also includes provisions aimed at coordinating group health plan coverage with CHIP and Medicaid coverage.” (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Source: www.segalco.com
[Guidance Overview] CMS Requests Comments on Proposed Changes to RDS Subsidy Calculation
[Guidance Overview] CMS Requests Comments on Proposed Changes to RDS Subsidy Calculation
Excerpt: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is concerned that certain new requirements it has established for Medicare Part D plans (i.e., reporting the pass-through prices instead of lock-in prices, and treating amounts retained by the pharmacy benefit manager or other intermediary contracting organization as administrative costs) will, if applied to the retiree drug subsidy program, induce employers to terminate their programs or place their retirees in a Part D plan because of the reduced subsidy. As a result, CMS has postponed applying these changes to the retiree drug subsidy program and is requesting further comments. 74 Federal Register 1494 & 1550 (January 26, 2009).” (Deloitte LLP via BenefitsLink.com)
Source: benefitslink.com
Medicaid under review – Baton Rouge Advocate
Private health-care providers who treat Louisiana’s poor are facing a $180 million cut in the government health insurance program that pays them. The amount is far less than originally expected. But the cut’s impact will be hard to measure until …
Source: www.2theadvocate.com
CMS Issues Retiree Drug Subsidy User Guide and New FAQs
Excerpt: “Employers applying for the Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy (RDS) now have additional resources on the RDS application and reconciliation process. CMS has issued a new RDS User Guide, which includes information from many how-to documents on its website. The agency also has released eight frequently asked questions addressing how to correct submitted drug costs, payment requests or retiree lists after an application has completed reconciliation.” (Mercer LLC)
Source: us.select.mercer.com
Some kids hit with Medicaid cut – Omaha World-Herald
Some Nebraska children are losing Medicaid funding for a specialized level of behavioral health care even though the state will continue paying for the same treatment for children who are state wards. State officials expect the loss in funding …
Source: www.omaha.com
Drug deal may be bad trip for Democrats – Politico.com
A Senate-side deal last month with drug manufacturers is coming back to bite House Democrats looking for savings to pay for their own health care reform bill this summer. Having struck a bargain with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D …
Source: www.politico.com
Federal government to pay good share of state’s Medicaid’s costs (Arkansas News Bureau)
LITTLE ROCK — The federal government will pay a larger share of the cost of Medicaid in Arkansas, thanks to increased funding in the economic stimulus package.
Source: arkansasnews.com
Walgreens extends Medicaid deadline by 30 days in effort to resolve impasse with state (The Delaware Business Ledger)
Delaware’s Medicaid participants who get their prescriptions filled at Walgreens now have an additional 30 days to do so, if they choose.
Source: www.ledgerdelaware.com
Proposed care cuts prompt fight – Raleigh News & Observer
Two distinct narratives are at war in a controversy over whether North Carolina should cut as much as $100 million over two years from in-home care for older and disabled people. Called personal care services, the program cost the state more than …
Source: www.newsobserver.com
[Guidance Overview] Recent Legislation Requires Numerous Changes to Group Health Plans
Material covered includes coordination with SCHIP and Medicaid and New Privacy Restrictions in the Stimulus Package. (Troutman Sanders LLP)
Source: www.troutmansanders.com
Medicaid: Problem after problem (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
JACKSON – Mississippi’s more than 600,000 Medicaid recipients were carried to the brink Tuesday by the Legislature and Gov. Haley Barbour.
Source: nems360.com
GAO Testimony: Overview of Approaches to Control Prescription Drug Spending in Federal Programs
GAO Testimony: Overview of Approaches to Control Prescription Drug Spending in Federal Programs
June 24, 2009. 16 pages. Testimony given by John E. Dicken, director, health care, before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Source: www.gao.gov
Walgreens extends Medicaid deadline by 30 days in effort to resolve impasse with state (The Delaware Business Ledger)
Delaware’s Medicaid participants who get their prescriptions filled at Walgreens now have an additional 30 days to do so, if they choose.
Source: www.ledgerdelaware.com
Cornell Blasts Edwards On Medicaid (The Post-Journal)
Chautauqua County Legislator Chuck Cornell, D-Jamestown, will eliminate the vacant Medicaid specialist position if elected county executive this fall. Pledging to pursue other avenues to cut Medicaid costs, Cornell said recently that none of the savings promised by the current administration have been charted as a result of the position.
Source: www.post-journal.com
Take-Up of Medicare Part D: Results from the Health and Retirement Study
Excerpt: “We analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study on senior citizens’ take-up of Medicare Part D. Take-up among those without drug coverage in 2004 was high; about fifty to sixty percent of this group have Part D coverage in 2006. Only seven percent of senior citizens lack drug coverage in 2006 compared with 24 percent in 2004. We find little circumstantial evidence that Part D crowded out private coverage in the short run, since the persistence of employer coverage was only slightly lower in 2004 — 2006 than it was in 2002 — 2004.” (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
Source: papers.nber.org
[Guidance Overview] Medicare Part D: Optimizing the Opportunities for Employer Plans (PDF)
5 pages. The article discusses the pluses and minuses of options. (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans via Milliman)
Source: www.milliman.com
[Guidance Overview] CMS Revision of Indexed Medicare Part D Amounts for 2010, Updated April 8, 2009
Excerpt: “In an April 6, 2009 announcement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revised and made final the indexed Medicare Part D standard benefit and Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) amounts for 2010, previously announced in an advance notice. This Capital Checkup features charts comparing the final 2010 numbers and the 2009 numbers.” (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Source: www.sibson.com
Savings Needed for Health Expenses in Retirement: An Examination of Persons Ages 55 and 65 in 2009 (PDF)
Pages of 20 pages. Excerpt: “This report updates earlier EBRI research on estimated savings needed to cover health insurance to supplement Medicare and out-of-pocket expenses for health care services in retirement. It finds that men age 65 in 2009 retiring this year will need anywhere from $68,000?$173,000 in savings to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in retirement if they want a 50?50 chance of being able to have enough money, and $134,000?$378,000 if they prefer a 90 percent chance. With their greater longevity, women will need more: a women retiring at age 65 in 2009 will need anywhere from $98,000?$242,000 in savings to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses inretirement for a 50?50 chance of having enough money, and $164,000?$450,000 for a 90 percent chance.” (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Source: www.ebri.org