Fixing Medicaid Managed Care – Governor Beshear Steps Up to the Plate
Last Friday, Governor Beshear vetoed HB 5, a bill that was intended to address issues of prompt payment to health care providers by Kentucky’s managed care companies, but he released an alternative plan to address both individual and systematic problems with managed care. In November 2011, Kentucky moved to a statewide managed care system for Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to low-income children and parents, pregnant women and people with disabilities. You can read [...]
Medicaid Expansion in Kentucky: Kids Have Much to Gain
At Kentucky Youth Advocates, we ask ourselves the same question over and over when we examine issues. It’s a short and simple question: “Is it good for kids?” We strive to be the independent voice for children and that means we want the policies created and implemented by our decision makers to benefit children. Right now, our state leaders have a big decision to make on whether to expand Medicaid to low-income adults and parents [...]
New Brief Shows Kentucky Children Would Benefit from Medicaid Expansion
Jeffersontown, KY – Thousands of children could see immediate and long-term health benefits, at a small cost to the state, if Kentucky expands Medicaid to adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line starting in January 2014, according to a new issue brief from Kentucky Youth Advocates. The brief, Medicaid Expansion in Kentucky: Kids Have Much to Gain, examines the numerous family and child health benefits that result when parents have access to [...]
Demystifying the Health Care Law
The Affordable Care Act passed in March 2010 resulted in many changes to the health care system and there are more changes coming soon. Health care reform will impact populations, both young and old. Given that the health care reform bill was 2000 pages long, it can be confusing for people to figure out how the new law affects them. If you have questions about what the health care law means for you, join an [...]
Managed Care 101: Medicaid Managed Care Status Update
Managed care is certainly a hot topic in our state. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, Kentucky has undergone major changes to its Medicaid program since 2011 by bringing in multiple private companies to run Medicaid in order to save costs. This new system is called Medicaid managed care. The transition has been anything but easy, and it looks as if the road will remain bumpy for awhile longer. The House Budget Review Subcommittee on [...]