Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Medicaid Cuts Hit Home

Kevin Sack of The New York Times reports:
It has not taken long for communities like Flint to feel the downstream effects of a nationwide torrent of state cuts to Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor and disabled. With states squeezing payments to providers even as the economy fuels explosive growth in enrollment, patients are finding it increasingly difficult to locate doctors and dentists who will accept their coverage. Inevitably, many defer care or wind up in hospital emergency rooms, which are required to take anyone in an urgent condition.



2 comments:

  1. Few people know that the Genesee Intermediate School District , along with other school districts, bills medicaid for services provided by its Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Teachers, and Para-professionals to students that receive medicaid or are medicaid eligible.

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  2. This is true for most if not all districts in the state of Michigan and possibly in the country! As a special education teacher, I am required to submit monthly billing statements for certain services (case management) I provide. It helps defray some of the expense in educating students. Therapy services are very expensive and it helps the district recoup some of the costs. Otherwise, the child would possibly have to attend therapy sessions at other locations.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.