Stateline Headlines

Medicaid Expansion by the Numbers

The ACA was expected to cover 32 million uninsured Americans by 2022. Six states are on the fence about expanding Medicaid.

Most doctors still waiting on Medicaid pay raise

Gosnell's crimes are not uncommon: Column

Black pastors demand broader probe after Kermit Gosnell abortion trial

Attorneys General Seek Warning Label Cautioning Pregnant Women Against Using Pain Pills

State attorneys general are hoping to protect the littlest victims of prescription drug abuse.

Obamacare myths and realities

Dangers found in lack of safety oversight for Medicare drug benefit

Cabinet secretary solicits large donations to publicize health care law

State Pharmacy Regulators Back Senate Bill on Drug Compounding

The association of state pharmacy regulators says it’s pleased with a U.S. Senate bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration authority over drug compounders.

Hospital billing varies wildly, U.S. data shows

Road Deaths Climb in 2012, Ending Six-Year Slide

New England and the Southwest top the country in highest rate of increase in traffic fatalities.

States take lead on compounding pharmacies

States fear losing aid for 'uninsurables' under Obamacare

Finish Line Fast Approaching on Medicaid Expansion

The Supreme Court gave states a choice: Medicaid expansion or not. It’s time to choose. Here’s where they stand now.

Motorcycle Deaths Climb as States Repeal Helmet Laws

With fatalities rising, safety experts say states should force motorcyclists to wear helmets. But legislators are heading in the opposite direction.

Infographic: Spending on Public Health Drops

Our public health systems are meant to be at the forefront of prevention, but state and federal investments are shrinking.

Lack of Competition Might Hamper Health Exchanges

The health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are supposed to give consumers a menu of coverage choices. But will insurers agree to participate?

Hospitals Lobby Hard for Medicaid Expansion

Hospitals stand to lose billions of dollars in states that don’t expand Medicaid. They won’t accept those cuts without a fight.

Ex-Felons Are About to Get Health Coverage

Health care will be available to former prisoners through Medicaid.

States Tackle Mental Illness and Gun Ownership

New York’s new gun law requires mental health providers to report on dangerous patients. Will the law harm treatment?

Congress May Reverse Some of Sequester’s Cuts to WIC

An effort to keep the federal government open could also deliver relief to pregnant women, mothers and young children in need of food.

New Database Reveals Thousands of Hospital Violation Reports

For the first time, vital information on the quality and safety of the nation’s hospitals has been made available to the public online.

Health Care Cuts From Vaccinations to Research

Automatic cuts to federal health-care programs may make it more difficult for low-income Americans to get maternal and infant care, vaccinate their children, and receive treatment for mental illness.

Update: Health Care Exchanges

With their deadline past, 26 states have not taken steps to establish their own health care exchanges, thereby defaulting to a federally run operation in their states.

Luring Primary Care Docs into Medicaid

Fearing a shortage of primary care doctors who will take Medicaid patients after the 2014 expansion of the program, Congress has passed la temporary pay raise.

Governors Ask Lawmakers to Prevent Future Shootings

The recent mass shootings in Colorado and Connecticut reshaped governors’ legislative agendas this year, and many used their once-a-year legislative addresses to ask lawmakers to take up gun control, mental health treatment and school safety.

Future of Health Law Is Largely in State Hands

The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. But in order for it to be fully effective, states have to cooperate. Many of them don’t want to.

Easiest Path to Mental Health Funding May Be Medicaid Expansion

Even after mass shootings have shed light on the inadequacy of mental health services, states are unlikely to come up with much new money. But the federal government might, through Medicaid expansion.

Surpluses Await Some States in 2013 Sessions

The surpluses that state lawmakers will find waiting for them this year may not go very far.

New Data Show Medicaid Spending Growth Declined in 2011

For the third year in a row, new data from the federal government shows that Medicaid, and health care spending generally, is growing slower than before the recession. Spending per beneficiary actually went down.

Uncertainty from Washington Continues for States

States trying to craft their budgets for the upcoming year will have to wait until March for more details from Washington.

Big Drug Compounders Poorly Regulated

Tainted medicine made by a New England pharmacy has killed at least 39 people and triggered a debate about how best to regulate the nation’s drug supply.

Election Year Brings Big Changes in State Policy

From battles in the legislatures to battles at the polls, Stateline reporters traveled all over the country in 2012 reporting on news from the states.

Medicaid Trumps `Fiscal Cliff’ as Top State Budget Concern

Medicaid is still the biggest budget worry for the coming year, according to a new survey of state legislative directors to be released soon. Nowhere is the problem larger than in Texas, which faces a $4.3 billion Medicaid deficit.

In Fiscal Cliff Talks, Governors Get White House Seat

A group of governors on Tuesday called for Washington to find a solution — any solution — to the nation’s budget woes as the federal government’s so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ grows nearer.

Nurse Practitioners Step In Where Doctors Are Scarce

Nurse practitioners, registered nurses with advanced nursing degrees, are capable of providing primary-care services such as diagnosing and treating illnesses, prescribing medication, ordering tests and referring patients to specialists. But only 18 states and the District of Columbia currently allow nurse practitioners to perform these services independently of a doctor.

Parity for Behavioral Health Coverage Delayed by Lack of Federal Rules

Congress passed a mental health and drug treatment parity law four years ago, but state enforcement is stymied by the Obama Administration’s failure to issue rules.

Obama Win Means Big Health Care Decisions for States

Many Republican states would just as soon have nothing to do with the Obama health law. But they will be swept up in it nevertheless.

Infographic: Ballot Measures Gave Voters Say on Divisive Issues

Voters in 38 states will decide 174 statewide ballot measures on Election Day. Are any on your ballot?

Accountable Care Explained: An Experiment in State Health Policy

The Affordable Care Act and state fiscal pressures have spawned an array of new Medicaid cost containment and quality improvement schemes. Among the most ambitious is a health care delivery system whose components are called accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Maine Seeks to Cut Medicaid Eligibility

Maine’s Tea Party governor Paul LePage thinks the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on healthcare gives him the opportunity to tighten Medicaid eligibility.

State Health Insurance Plans Due to Feds

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked states to submit their benchmark health insurance plans —or “minimum benefits” — by Monday (October 1), a major milestone in the implementation of President Obama’s health care law. Some states are expected to let the deadline pass.

Infographic: State Health Insurance Exchanges

The Affordable Care Act asks states to create health insurance exchanges to help their residents purchase coverage. Only 15 have done so. The rest risk having the federal government do the job for them.

One of Five Americans Struggling To Afford Food, Survey Finds

Despite record food stamp enrollment around the country and an economy considered to be on a modest upswing, the Great Recession is continuing to take its toll on many Americans, a Gallup survey found.

With VP Pick, Romney Endorses Fed-State Overhaul on Food Stamps, Medicaid

By choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has endorsed large changes in federal-state relations, particularly in dealings with food assistance and health care.

Safety Net Hospitals Imperiled by High Court Ruling

Hospitals that serve the poor thought they would be helped by the Affordable Care Act. Now it looks as if they will be hurt by it.

Health Care Ruling Casts Doubts on Billions in State-Federal Funding

By making the federal health law’s Medicaid expansion optional for states, the U.S. Supreme Court has cast doubt on decades of established state-federal programs and billions of dollars in funding tied to them.

Health Care Ruling, Elections Dominate Governors’ Meeting

The typical low-key summer gathering of the nation’s governors was anything but subdued this year. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision leaving it up to the states whether to expand their Medicaid programs topped headlines coming from the National Governors Association meeting in Virginia.

States Bolstered by GlaxoSmithKline Settlement

The country’s largest health-care fraud settlement will send millions of dollars back into state Medicaid programs.

Governors React Nationwide to High Court Health Ruling

Governors react to the Supreme Court's June 28 health ruling.

Court Lets States Opt Out of Medicaid Expansion

Some states are worried about the cost of the health law’s expanded Medicaid coverage. Now they can choose not to participate in it.

All Eyes on U.S. Supreme Court

States await key decisions this week from the U.S. Supreme Court on health care, immigration and elections.

What Happens to Health Law Money Already in State Coffers?

If the high court overturns all or part of the health law, Congress could seek refunds of the nearly $14 billion in federal money already sent to states to implement it.

States Seek Medicare Data to Keep Fraudulent Providers Out of Medicaid

The nation’s two giant health programs have many good reasons to share data with each other. But they aren’t doing it.

Governor Touts Massachusetts’ Success, Stumps for Obama

Americans will decide the fate of the American Dream this November, said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in a speech to a progressive legal society in Washington, D.C. Thursday.

States Push to Contain Health Costs

Medicaid budget numbers look a little better in some states this year. That has made states more creative about investing in long-term ways to control costs. Part five in a week-long series.

Post-Recall Wisconsin Open for Business, Governor Says

The recent recall election in Wisconsin that let Governor Scott Walker keep his job was apparently also good for businesses in the state, or so says the governor.

New Federal Grants for Aging and Disability Resource Centers

The federal government is giving states another $52 million to help elders and adults with disabilities receive the long-term care they need without abandoning their homes.

Study: Medicine Advances as State Health Care Declines

Recent advancements in medicine and life-saving technology dont do much to help sick patients who cant take advantage of them because of cash-strapped state health care programs, resulting in first-rate medicine and a third-rate health care system, a comprehensive new study found. The year-long study of government-funded health care in the 50 states was done by Governing magazine.

Governors to Press Their Issues with Federal Officials

This year's National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C., will have extra star power with the premier appearance of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). But the real focus will be on the tried-and-true issues of more federal money and less federal intrusion.

Bush Defuses Some Medicaid, NCLB Complaints

The Bush administration appears to have backed down in disputes with the states over Medicaid and education just as the nations governors converged on Washington, D.C., for the National Governors Associations four-day winter meeting.

Smokers Help to Balance State Budgets

Smoking may be bad for your health, but it's good for state revenues. Vilified for its health effects, tobacco becomes a popular choice to milk for extra dollars to close state budget gaps.

States Aim at Sound Beginning for Babies

Despite significant progress in the past five years to detect infant deafness, the most common birth defect in the U.S., 12 states have no mandatory hearing screening for newborns. Advocates of newborn screening say it can save $1 million in tax money for each deaf child detected early enough to avoid special education.

Obesity Weighing Down State Health Care Budgets

Obesity is starting to grab attention in state capitols because of the sheer size of mounting medical bills from obesity-related illnesses. In the first of a two-part series, Stateline.org looks at ways states are trying to trim obesity rates and hopefully state health care costs. Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) of Arkansas is a leading crusader after he was diagnosed with diabetes and lost 90 pounds.

Childhood Obesity: States Neglect Physical Education

Despite a national epidemic of childhood obesity, physical education classes are being squeezed out of the school day by trends in modern education. While many legislatures have targeted junk food as a remedy to childhood obesity, few are seeking to pump up inadequate physical education programs. In the second of a two-part series on obesity, Stateline.org explains how gym classes are falling victim to an increased emphasis on testing and academic performance and to the effects of states tight finances.

States Recycling Medicaid Funds Face Federal Scrutiny

States using controversial accounting tricks to unload some of their health care costs on the federal government are facing increased scrutiny from federal health officials. Thirty-four states are on a federal watch list for perhaps abusing financing tactics for Medicaid, the state-federal health safety net for more than 50 million poor and disabled Americans.

Soaring Health Care Costs Squeeze States

The nations governors warn in a new report that the recent signs of a national recovery wont make it any easier for states to balance their budgets this year and that rising health care costs are a major culprit.

States Struggle to Control Prescription Prices

States are experimenting with innovative tactics to rein in prescription drug prices for state workers and people on Medicaid, in an effort to hold down health care costs. The three most prevalent steps to control costs involve: importing less-expensive medicine from abroad, buying drugs in bulk, and regulating pharmacy benefit managers, the for-profit companies that negotiate drug discounts for states.

States Scrambling to Prep for Medicare Changes

The new Medicare prescription drug discount cards that roll out today are puzzling senior citizens and state policy wonks alike. Because state pharmacy assistance programs are so varied and the new federal Medicare law so complex, there hasnt been a uniform response from states. Nevertheless, legislators and state officials have been scrambling over the past five months to find ways to mesh their programs and statutes with the federal law.

Medicaid Trumps Education in State Budgets

After three years of the worst fiscal situation in the last 60 years, states are now witnessing relatively robust revenue growth. While the Midwest is still lagging, the Rockefeller Institute of Government recently reported that state revenues were up 8.4 percent for the first three months of calendar year 2004. There are clearly differences of opinion regarding the sustainability of the current recovery, but there is cautious optimism that it will continue through 2005.

Medicaid Still Busting State Budgets

More than 65,000 poor and disabled Mississippi residents will lose government-funded health coverage through Medicaid on July 1. The states Medicaid rollback, although the most drastic this year to date, is just one of several health care cuts looming in the states. Despite a recent uptick in state revenues, many states still are struggling to maintain services and avoid restricting the $300 billion health care program that serves about 50 million Americans.

New State Laws Take Effect July 1

The beginning of the new budget year means no more talking on cell phones while driving in New Jersey, the start of Sunday liquor sales in Ohio, and Colorados dangerous dogs must wear microchips. Hundreds of new statutes that change people's daily lives are about to go into effect.

States Brace for Another Bout with West Nile Virus

Public health officials across the states are bracing for another onslaught of West Nile virus, the disease of African origin that infected nearly 10,000 people in 45 states in 2003 and has already resulted in one death and caused 57 people to fall ill this year. This summers mosquito season is expected to produce the most severe outbreak of the disease yet and hit particularly hard in the Plains states and on the West Coast.

Long-Term Health Care Costs Loom Large for Governors

Soaring health care costs, coupled with the looming retirement of a record 77 million Americans starting in 2011, are casting a shadow of concern over states that worry their public health care systems cant shoulder the burden of the aging baby boom generation. The problem is of such proportions that Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R), outgoing chairman of the National Governors Association, spent the past year studying how states can get boomer-ready.

Governors Talk About Ways to Aid Elderly

States must act to help the elderly enjoy their golden years with dignity and good health care, U.S. governors agreed Sunday. At the National Governors Association annual meeting, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) listed 20 ways governors can improve lives of the aging and disabled.

State Rx Programs Make Way for Medicare Cards

With the first phase of the new federal Medicare drug benefit underway, older Americans face the formidable task of sifting through a mountain of Medicare-approved prescription drug discount cards. However, the 22 states that already help senior citizens pay for medicines through discount or subsidy programs have an additional challenge: how to mesh their existing programs with the new federal benefit and make sure elderly residents in the state understand their options.

Democrats Say Kerry Would Bring Better Times for States

If John Kerry is elected president, Democrats foresee a new partnership between the federal government and states. The U.S. senator from Massachusetts accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, and he and his supporters said a Kerry White House would pursue new strategies to create jobs, lessen health care costs and boost state economies.

States Trying to Sustain Kids' Health Insurance

State-run programs designed to assure health care for poor children generally succeeded in meeting that goal during the recent economic downturn, a recent study shows. However, another study found that 11 states saw enrollment in kids health insurance programs decline during the last six months of 2003. The findings shed new light on health benefits for children provided by Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor and disabled, and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which benefits children whose parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private insurance.

Funding Woes Plague State AIDS Programs

Hundreds of poor, uninsured people with HIV and AIDS in dozens of states are without access to life-sustaining medicines because state and federal funding levels cant meet the demand for service. Several states are banking on a quick infusion of federal cash to deliver AIDS drugs to more patients, but the search still is on for a long-term solution.

On the Record: FDA on Rx Imports

Tensions are rising between a growing number of states that are helping citizens import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and the federal government, which maintains that importing drugs from abroad is dangerous and illegal. Stateline.org spoke with William Hubbard, associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, about Illinois broad new plan to join a handful of states in defying the federal ban on drug imports, the U.S. Customs Services recent seizure of a foreign drug shipment, and FDA threats to take legal action.

New Census Data Show Rise in Uninsured, Poor

Just-released national statistics on health insurance coverage and poverty rates show Texas once again leads the nation with the highest rate of uninsured residents, followed closely by New Mexico. The poverty rate decreased in Mississippi and North Dakota, but increased in Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia in 2003. The statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau give a state-by-state snapshot.

GOP Touts Bush's Record on State Affairs

Republicans made the case this week for a second term for President George W. Bush, saying his policies already are helping states budget prospects and will help states deal with the ongoing challenges of health care costs and job growth. Bush formally accepted his partys nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday and sketched out his domestic agenda for a second term.

States Seek Emergency Medical Compacts

States legally can share fire trucks and helicopters in emergencies, but not medical expertise. But some states are working to change that, particularly in case of a bioterrorist event such as a smallpox outbreak or anthrax attack. Nebraska and nine other states are working on mutual aid agreements to share doctors and laboratories in times of emergency. And the Southern Governors Association has been developing digital connections that project leaders hope will be the beginning of a national health highway system.

States to Sample Bodily Fluids for Chemicals

Despite major health-care advances in recent decades, medical researchers have not figured out what causes chronic diseases such as asthma, leukemia, Alzheimers and autism. With the help of federal grants, states are setting up laboratories to measure the level of chemicals that seep into our bodies from the environment to try to uncover whether such pollutants are causing disease.

States Loathe to Lose say Over Insurance Plans

Strong objections are being voiced in the states to part of President Bushs prescription to make health insurance more affordable for small businesses. The principal worry is that states will lose the ability to regulate certain insurance plans and protect consumers.

Study: Health Costs for Workers Rising

Health insurance premiums for workers in 35 states have risen at least three times faster than average earnings, according to a new report released by a liberal consumer group. The report includes state-by-state data.

Hot-Button Social Issues Cram State Ballots

Voters this November will tackle controversial issues that many statehouses couldnt resolve, including whether to ban gay marriage, boost the state minimum wage or have a lottery. Californians will have the longest list of ballot questions with 16.

Medicaid Is Fastest-Growing Squeeze on State Budgets

A new 50-state survey outlines the scope of Medicaids budget woes this fiscal year. The cost of caring for 52 million poor and disabled Americans who rely on Medicaid for health care is projected to jump 11.7 percent for states this fiscal year, four times faster than all other state expenditures, according to the report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Health Care Costs: Connect the Dots

Whether it's keeping up with the latest fashion trend, sports score or NASDAQ stock quote, the Internet, cell phones and wireless devices allow -- and sometimes force -- all of us to stay connected anytime, anywhere. Being easily and readily connected 24/7 has the major advantage of being instantly informed, increasing the importance of now, at the expense of tomorrow, next week and even next year.

States Losing Fight Against Fat, Study Says

Alabama weighed in as the heaviest state in 2003 because nearly one third of its residents are obese, while Colorado ranked thinnest, with only 16 percent of its population considered obese, according to an Oct. 20 report analyzing states efforts to fight fat.

Flu Shot Shortage Vexes State Officials

The nationwide shortage of flu vaccine tossed a health management crisis onto the shoulders of state health officials, governors and attorneys general, who are trying to inventory, ration, coax or even threaten their way into getting vaccine to those who need it most.

Voters Decide Policy Issues

The American electorate that so narrowly divided over the presidential race swung many ways on a raft of ballot initiatives ranging from legalizing pot in three states to banning same-sex marriage in 11.

A Time for Thanks

The states have plenty for which to be thankful. Of course, the bounty enjoyed by the nations state and local government does not exactly amount to a four-course meal. However, the "harvest" that states have enjoyed over the years ensures states many of the same liberties sought by the early settlers and allows states to provide the necessary services to their citizens. Here are just a few items that states are thankful for:

Less Tobacco Suit Money Goes to Stop Smoking

States are spending fewer and fewer of the dollars they get from a 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry on smoking prevention, a new report shows. Altogether, states allocated $538 million toward prevention programs in fiscal 2005, a decrease from $542.6 million the year before, according to the annual ranking of state spending by four anti-smoking groups. State spending to curb tobacco use peaked at $749.7 million in 2002, falling to $674.4 million in 2003.

State Budget Crunch Eases, But Health Care a Worry

The good news for states is that more tax money is flowing into their coffers. The bad news, according to a new report by state fiscal experts, is that rising health care costs and less federal funds likely will mean another year of belt-tightening.

Medicare Looms as Budget, Logistical Iissue for States

States have 12 months to get ready for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit for seniors. While Medicare is a federal program, states will play a central role in administering and financing a large chunk of the new federal drug coverage, state lawmakers were told at a health policy conference sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some States Easing Flu Vaccine Restrictions

After several weeks of scrambling to find and ration flu vaccine amid a nationwide shortage, many states are reporting unexpected surpluses of vaccine and several are easing restrictions on who can get vaccine from private providers.

Vexing Issues Await States, New Leaders in 2005

The New Year will bring plenty of new faces in state politics, including seven new governors and more than 1,200 state legislators beginning their freshman year. But while the players have changed, some of the problems are leftovers from 2004, including how to curb soaring health care costs.

Fiscal Policy Split Pits Bush vs. States

On the same day President George W. Bush proposed federal tax cuts to boost economic growth, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne unveiled a plan to raise state taxes as a "last resort" to preserve basic services, such as education and healthcare. It was a stark illustration of the different fiscal and political realities at the federal and state level.

Medical Malpractice Plagues State Policymakers

State lawmakers in Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania and West Virginia hope legislative Band-Aids will help fix medical malpractice systems, which are leading doctors to threaten to relocate or quit because of soaring insurance premiums. At least 11 other states plan to address the issue this year.