States putting more kids into CHIP programs, but some Medicaid programs squeezed

Thirty states increased the number of children under the program, Stateline reports. Also, Medicaid advocates are urging federal officials to deny California's request to cut the program, and in Georgia, officials are looking for more funding.

Stateline: Study: States Enrolling More Children In CHIP
Even as states struggled to meet their Medicaid obligations during the recession, most increased the percentage of kids covered under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Thirty states boosted the proportion of eligible kids covered under the federal-state program and the national average moved from 80 percent to nearly 85 percent (Vestal, 8/26). 

The Hill: Advocates For Disabled Urge Feds To Reject Cuts To California Medicaid
A consortium of 33 advocacy groups for people with disabilities on Thursday urged federal regulators to reject California's request to cut the state's Medicaid program. Gov. Jerry Brown has asked for permission to slash his state's Medicaid reimbursement rates by 10 percent to help plug a $26.6 billion budget gap. ... "With cuts this deep we are concerned that some service providers could go out of business and people with disabilities would lose access to critical services," the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities wrote in a letter to Medicare and Medicaid chief Don Berwick (Pecquet, 8/25).

California Healthline: Will Ending Adult Day Health Care Services Save State Money?
In Sacramento, legislators are holding hearings on how to help 36,000 elderly and disabled residents continue to receive ADHC-type services in other programs. ... The ADHC transition is a kind of pilot project for California, which aims to transition many more individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal into managed care (Gorn, 8/25).

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: State Medicaid Program To Request More Money From Governor
The state agency that runs the Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs will ask Gov. Nathan Deal to find more than $570 million in state coffers to cover shortfalls in the 2012 and 2013 budgets for the health care programs. ... Lawmakers this spring borrowed money from Medicaid to cover funding gaps in other state programs -- including a major shortfall in the state employee and retiree health care plan. Lawmakers also delayed payments owed by Medicaid to give the budget some relief (Teegardin, 8/25).

HealthyCal: Healthcare Reform May Help Homeless Get Comprehensive Care
California's unprecedented Medicaid expansion in advance of national health care reform is a crucial opportunity to improve care for the homeless, advocates say. The $10 billion program, called California's Bridge to Reform, includes increases in health care subsidies for the indigent, including the state's estimated 134,000 homeless (Richard, 8/25).