Last Wednesday, President George W. Bush approved a Medicaid plan for Florida that will shift from the traditional "defined benefit" plan to a "defined contribution" plan, allowing the state to set a ceiling on spending for each recipient. From the New York Times (free registration required): Joan C. Alker, a senior researcher at the Health Policy Institute of Georgetown University, said: "Florida's proposal is one of the most far-reaching and radical proposals we've seen to restructure … [Read more...] about Florida Allowed to Set Ceiling on Medicaid Spending

The new rule became effective on March 1. Already, families are reacting:A new rule took effect Tuesday that will allow the state of Texas to get back some of the money paid out for nursing home care. The rule has some families scrambling to protect their assets from the government … [Read more...] about The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program

I know that some in Texas support the idea of a provider tax on nursing homes to make up for shortfalls in Medicaid funding. For those who do--and those who don't know one way or another--I invite you to go read Dr. Bob at The Doctor is In about a similar tax his state of Washington contemplates putting on physicians for the same reason--a shortfall of Medicaid funding. I excerpt portions:The large majority of Washington physicians would prefer to see Medicaid patients, but are quite simply … [Read more...] about Medicaid and Provider Taxes–A Primer on Economics