Medicaid: Texas providers push for higher reimbursement; Ill. nursing home supporters call for restoration of funds

Medicaid programs -- reimbursement for providers in Texas, proposed cuts in Illinois and application delays in Connecticut -- make news.

The Texas Tribune: Medicaid Providers Make A Last Push For Higher Rates
In the waning days of budget negotiations, medical providers are sounding their biennial battle cry to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates. Despite their refrain that increasing reimbursement rates could shore up the program's provider network, the rates probably won't budge much, as that is traditionally one of few variables that the Legislature relies on to contain Medicaid costs (Aaronson, 5/14).

Chicago Sun-Times: Nursing Home Supporters Call For State To Restore Medicaid Cuts
Hundreds of nursing home supporters who gathered at the Thompson Center on Monday called for the state to restore cuts in Medicaid funding and avert any new cuts for essential medical services for nursing home residents across Illinois (Thomas, 5/13).

CT Mirror: DSS Trial: Are Medicaid Application Delays Breaking The Law? 
Paul Shafer, a Trumbull resident, had a seizure disorder and no job when he applied for Medicaid in July 2011. The program would have paid for the $165-a-month anti-seizure medication Shafer relied on. By law, he should have heard back within 45 days. Instead, Shafer waited months without a decision on his application. He took half the prescribed dose of his medication to make it last longer. At one point he had a major seizure (Becker, 5/14).