Medicaid news: N.Y. Gov. proposes state 'takeover' of local costs; Kansas docs, hospitals endorse managed care plan

In New York, Kansas, Georgia, Arizona and Texas, Medicaid is making news.

The Associated Press: Now NY's Legislature Gets Cuomo's Budget
[Gov. Andrew] Cuomo's overall budget proposal would increase state spending by 2 percent, much of it involving 4-percent school aid and Medicaid spending hikes agreed to last year with legislative leaders. But the overall plan, including federal funding, is a fraction of 1 percent lower than the current budget, and eliminates a $2 billion deficit. Cuomo's plan calls for using $1.9 billion in revenue from a "millionaire tax" approved in December and making just over $1 billion in cuts while embarking on a three-year takeover of Medicaid costs from local governments, now cracking under the $8 billion a year strain (Gormley, 1/18). 

The New York Times: In Cuomo's Budget, Nip-And-Tuck Cuts And Big Policy Aims
Mr. Cuomo also proposed saving more than $750 million by limiting planned increases on mental health programs and social services, including eliminating an automatic cost-of-living increase for nonprofit providers of services like foster care, adoption and family counseling. Addressing a major concern of local governments, Mr. Cuomo proposed that the state gradually take over yearly increases in Medicaid expenses that are now shouldered by county governments and New York City (Kaplan, 1/17).

The Texas Tribune: Lawmakers Revisit Texas Medicaid Waiver 
Texas lawmakers and hospital administrators took a hard look Tuesday at the state Medicaid waiver recently OK'd by the Obama administration. ... The waiver allows Texas to keep drawing down billions of federal dollars even as the state expands Medicaid managed care programs designed to curb costs and make care more efficient for Texas' neediest patients (Whitney, 1/17). 

Arizona Republic: Maricopa County Given OK To Offer $14.5 million To Settle Medicaid Suits
The board's unanimous decision Tuesday authorizes the board's lawyers to draft a formal offer for the 36 plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiffs are various health care providers across the Valley. The lengthy legal battle centered on whether the county should reimburse hospitals for emergency care they provided to indigent patients who were not enrolled in the state's Medicaid system at the time they were treated (Lee, 1/17).

Kansas Health Institute News: Doctor And Hospital Groups Endorse KanCare Plan 
The heads of the Kansas Medical Society and the Kansas Hospital Association testified today in favor of Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to expand Medicaid managed care to include long-term services for the developmentally disabled, the elderly and the mentally ill. Those endorsements put the state's leading medical provider groups at odds with the state's 27 Community Developmental Disability Organizations (CDDOs (Shields, 1/17). 

Georgia Health News: Consumer Groups Urge Medicaid Revamp
Another report recommending big changes in Georgia Medicaid and PeachCare has been released, ahead of the state's own analysis of the two health insurance programs.The new report, from the consumer advocacy groups Voices for Georgia's Children and Georgians for a Healthy Future, calls for more streamlined enrollment, stronger accountability measures, improved access to specialty physicians, and a more coordinated, patient-centered system of care (Miller, 1/17).