- Author: Health Informer
- Filed under: Health News
- Date: Sep 30,2010
States Face New Budget and Workforce Challenges As Temporary Federal Aid Nears End And Health Reform Planning Heats Up
Due to the nation’s deep recession, states experienced rapid growth in their Medicaid enrollment and spending last year and expect additional growth, though at a slower pace, in fiscal year 2011, according to a survey of state Medicaid officials in all 50 states released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU).
States reported an average increase in Medicaid spending of 8.8 percent across all states in fiscal year 2010, the highest rate of growth in eight years and well above their original projections of 6.3 percent growth. Medicaid directors attributed the unexpected jump to higher-than-expected increases in eligible families due to the recession, which pushed the national unemployment rate above 10 percent and even higher rates in some states.
For fiscal year 2011 (which runs through June 2011), states budgeted for an average 7.4 percent increase in spending above fiscal year 2010 – a slightly slower rate of growth consistent with their expectations that enrollment growth will slow to 6.1 percent, according to the 10th annual survey of state Medicaid directors.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided a temporary boost in the federal government’s share of Medicaid costs, providing an estimated $87 billion to states starting in October 2008. ARRA’s increased federal Medicaid support was originally scheduled to end in December 2010, but in August, Congress enacted additional relief for states through June 2011 at a reduced level, providing $16 billion over six months. Read the rest of this entry »
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- Author: Health Informer
- Filed under: Health News
- Date: Sep 29,2010
HealthSouth Corporation announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of $275 million in aggregate principal amount of its 7.25% senior notes due 2018 at a public offering price of 100% of the principal amount and the pricing of its underwritten public offering of $250 million in aggregate principal amount of its 7.75% senior notes due 2022 at a public offering price of 100% of the principal amount.
The Company will pay interest on the notes semi-annually in arrears on April 1 and October 1 of each year, beginning on April 1, 2011, for the senior notes due 2018, and March 15 and September 15 of each year, beginning on March 15, 2011, for the senior notes due 2022. The notes will be jointly and severally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by all of its existing and future subsidiaries that guarantee borrowings under the Company’s credit agreement and other capital markets debt.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering of senior notes and cash on hand to repay a portion of the amounts outstanding under the term loans under the Company’s credit agreement. The offering is expected to close on October 7, 2010 and is conditioned on the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Read the rest of this entry »
- Author: Health Informer
- Filed under: Health News
- Date: Sep 28,2010
In recognition of the six month anniversary of the health reform law, a new report from the National Senior Citizens Law Center, with support from The SCAN Foundation, calls on states to use the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to end Medicaid’s long-standing bias toward funding long-term care in institutional settings such as nursing homes.
The report, “10 Plus Years Since the Olmstead Ruling: Progress, Problems and Opportunities,” describes steps forward and problems encountered since the landmark Supreme Court Olmstead ruling in 1999. In that ruling, the Court held that the unjustified isolation of people with disabilities in institutions is a form of unlawful discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The true message from the Olmstead ruling is that we need to create a long-term care system that is less reliant on keeping someone in a nursing home,” says NSCLC Executive Director Paul Nathanson. “The implementation of the health reform law provides a unique opportunity to ensure that many more low income older adults receive long-term care in their homes and communities where they prefer to be.” Read the rest of this entry »
- Author: Health Informer
- Filed under: Health News
- Date: Sep 27,2010
September 27th is the 10th Anniversary of Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™. This public health initiative was founded by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Founder and Chairman of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to highlight the health and social benefits of frequent family dinners.
To help parents extend Family Day throughout the year, try The Kids Cook Monday – a weekly opportunity for families to take health into their own hands. The Kids Cook Monday helps kids and their parents make a habit of cooking and eating together with a website that offers comprehensive tools (pdf), insightful educational articles, kids cooking tips and a range of weekly kid-friendly recipes.
Experts agree that cooking and eating with your family can help combat the rise of childhood obesity, which has tripled in the last 30 years. A study(1) in Pediatrics found that kids who regularly ate dinner with their family were less likely to be obese. First Lady Michelle Obama says getting kids involved in the kitchen is a key element in her Let’s Move initiative, “If they’re engaged in making the healthy snack, they are more likely to eat it.”(2) Read the rest of this entry »