Court denies Maine Medicaid lawsuit, says to give CMS time to rule on cuts

A federal appeals court rejected a Maine lawsuit Thursday and said the state -- which wants to cut 30,000 from its Medicaid rolls -- needs to allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services time to review its request.

Politico Pro: Court To Maine: Can You Be Patient?
A federal appeals court told Maine today that the state will have to be patient as CMS reviews the state's request to cut almost 30,000 people from the Medicaid rolls. Maine had asked the court to force CMS to make an immediate decision on the state's requested Medicaid changes, but a 1st Circuit Court of Appeals judge said today there's no need to rush (Millman, 9/13).

The Associated Press: Federal Court Rejects Maine's Medicaid Lawsuit
A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Maine's lawsuit that demanded swift action from the federal government on the state's Aug. 1 request to eliminate Medicaid coverage for more than 20,000 residents. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston declared the lawsuit premature because the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had 90 days -- until Nov. 1 -- by statute to consider Maine's waiver request (9/13).

In other Medicaid news --

The Associated Press: The Seattle Times: McKenna Touts Incentives To Save Money On Health Care
Attorney General Rob McKenna said Thursday he wants to tap Washington's creativity and use financial incentives to encourage doctors and consumers to save the state money on health care. At a news conference on Thursday across the street from the University of Washington Medical Center, the Republican candidate for governor also said he expects to negotiate with the federal government to give the state more flexibility on Medicaid. McKenna said he doesn't want to push anyone off the free or low-cost health insurance for those who can't afford private insurance, but he also doesn't want to make Medicaid so attractive that some people who have insurance through work will switch to Medicaid if they are eligible (Blankinship, 9/13).

Kansas Health Institute News: Provider Groups Nervous About Lack Of KanCare Details
Administration officials and insurance company representatives assured a legislative committee today that KanCare should be ready to launch as planned on Jan. 1, pending federal approvals. But spokespersons for hospitals, nursing homes and other Medicaid providers told members of the Joint Budget Committee that they were growing increasingly alarmed about the lack of operational details and remaining unanswered questions about how Gov. Sam Brownback's anticipated Medicaid system makeover is expected to work. "We are increasingly anxious about the lack of specific answers concerning how KanCare will actually operate," said Rachel Monger of Leading Age Kansas, an association of the state's nonprofit nursing homes that was generally supportive of KanCare after the initiative was announced in November 2011 (Shields, 9/13).