North Carolina lawmakers move closer on state Medicaid funding

In a major move, Senate negotiators have backed away from proposed cuts in eligibility for many aged, blind and disabled people.

North Carolina Health News: Budget Negotiators Move Closer On Medicaid
Senate leaders moved a little closer to the House's budget position on Medicaid funding Tuesday during a public budget conference committee at the General Assembly in Raleigh. For weeks, the two chambers of the legislature have been far apart on funding for the nearly $4 billion program that provides health care for low-income children and their parents, people with disabilities and poor elderly. At Tuesday's meeting, lead Senate negotiator Harry Brown (R-Jacksonville) told House committee members that the Senate was willing to scrap an earlier proposal to cut eligibility for many aged, blind and disabled people. The concession keeps funding at current levels for those beneficiaries, he said (Hoban, 7/15).

Charlotte Observer: NC Senate Moves Closer To House Positions In Budget Talks
Republican senators said Tuesday they would give teachers 8 percent rather than 11 percent raises and cut fewer elderly people from Medicaid in their latest state budget offer that moves Senate positions on contentious items closer to House preferences. The new Senate proposal was the first major move in about a week toward finalizing a revised $21 billion state budget that is more than two weeks overdue. The Senate wanted average 11 percent raises for teachers that would come with major cuts to teacher assistants and elderly and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries. The House wanted more modest raises of 6 percent for teachers that would avoid the steep reductions in teacher assistants and Medicaid (Bonner, 7/15).

Raleigh News & Observer: NC Senate Moves Closer To House Positions In Budget Talks
Republican senators said Tuesday they would give teachers 8 percent rather than 11 percent raises and cut fewer elderly people from Medicaid in their latest state budget offer that moves Senate positions on contentious items closer to House preferences. The new Senate proposal was the first major move in about a week toward finalizing a revised $21 billion state budget that is more than two weeks overdue (Bonner, 7/15).

Raleigh News & Observer: NC House, Senate Nearing Agreement On Medicaid Management
The state House and Senate are moving closer to agreeing on a Medicaid plan that will require doctors and hospitals to put skin in the game when it comes to managing the state's $13 billion Medicaid program. Sen. Ralph Hise, the chamber's Medicaid expert, said the Senate will introduce a plan Wednesday to reward providers for meeting patient health goals and penalize them financially for cost overruns. The House has been pushing a similar measure (Neff, 7/15).

Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit if filed against New York's Medicaid program -

The New York Times: Medicaid Home Care Cuts Are Unjust, Lawsuit Says
A federal class action lawsuit filed late Tuesday accuses New York State health officials of denying or slashing Medicaid home care services to chronically ill and disabled people without proper notice, the chance to appeal or even an explanation, protections required by law (Bernstein, 7/15).