Cuomo aides pressed NYC to support Medicaid deal

The Bloomberg administration was reluctant to agree to execute a deal brokered by state officials and a powerful union, The Wall Street Journal reports. In other Medicaid news, Kansas officials describe efforts to revamp its program and Wisconsin boosts campaign against fraud.

The Wall Street Journal: State Pushed To Help A Union
The Cuomo administration leaned on a reluctant Bloomberg administration to execute a Medicaid deal that had been quietly brokered between the governor's office and a powerful union, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, according to people familiar with the matter. The governor's office and the state's largest health care workers union reached out to the city after the Cuomo administration in the spring agreed to a $50 million bailout of an 1199SEIU health-insurance fund and needed to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate for home-care services to pay for it. The state's support for the fund was a crucial priority for the union, which endorsed the governor's budget and spent millions of dollars urging lawmakers to adopt it (Gershman, 10/7).

The Associated Press: Colyer: Medicaid Changes Won't Narrow Eligibility
A plan for overhauling Kansas' Medicaid program will push to cut the state's nursing home population and reorganize agencies, but it won't narrow eligibility requirements to reduce the number of people covered, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer said Thursday. Colyer, a surgeon and former state senator, is leading a Medicaid task force for Gov. Sam Brownback's administration. The Republican governor has said he wants to reduce the costs associated with medical care for the needy while improving services, and Colyer said the administration will release its plan by the end of October (Hanna, 10/6).

The Associated Press/St. Paul Pioneer Press: New Position Created To Root Out Medicaid Fraud
(Wis.) Gov. Scott Walker's administration has created a new position within the Department of Health Services to root out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid and other entitlement programs. Walker says the Office of the Inspector General will consolidate and improve the department's current fraud prevention efforts that are spread throughout the agency (10/6).