From the Progressive Pulse Blog 1.20.11

Medicaid program staff released updated estimates of the current year’s Medicaid state funding shortfall as well as their estimate of next year’s shortfall at the monthly meeting of the Medical Care Advisory Committee. As has been reported elsewhere, the recent court order reinstating coverage of personal care services for adults with disabilities, the Division of Medical Assistance added $9.4 million in estimated expenses into the current year’s budget, driving the current year shortfall up to $149 million.

Next year’s estimated shortfall of $243 million will be driven by many of the same factors that created this year’s problem, according to DMA Chief Business Operating Officer Steve Owen. The legislature’s double-cut to program inflation – a measure built on expectations about changes to Medicaid that are beyond state administration’s control, such as federal changes and provider costs – shows up yet again as a confounding factor in an already cash-strapped budget.

The Medical Care Advisory Committee remains opposed to across-the-board provider reimbursement rate reductions, despite the fact that there are few budget reductions options beyond provider cuts left within the executive branch’s purview. Owen reminded attendees that states cannot run deficits and that DMA is working closely with OSBM to identify a solution that, presumably, won’t require legislative action.

As one committee member asked, what happens next? The answer: no one knows.

To link to this story, click HERE.

Radio Interview with Sect. Cansler, via NC Policy Watch.

http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2012/01/23/sec-lanier-cansler-discusses-his-resignation-the-medicaid-shortfall-and-the-challenges-facing-dhhs/

 

From WRAL.com 1.13.12

Lanier M. Cansler, who has been secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services since the beginning of the Perdue administration three years ago, is leaving to take a job in the private sector at the end of the month.

On Friday afternoon, Gov. Bev Perdue named her senior policy advisor Al Delia acting secretary of the department as of early February.

Cansler fought a never-ending battle for funding during his tenure, which coincided with the depths of recession in North Carolina. In October 2009, he called budget cuts imposed by the General Assembly “historic.”

“The challenge we have is to try to maintain the level of services to the extent we can with the dollars we have available,” he said.

As recently as October, he sent a letter to legislative leaders saying, “These will be devastating cuts to North Carolina’s medical providers and to our citizens in need of these medical services.”  As Republican lawmakers battled Democrat Perdue over budget cuts last fall, Cansler often found himself at the epicenter of the political firefight.

For more on this story, click HERE.

 

From WRAL.com 1.3.12

The funding shortfall in North Carolina’s Medicaid program has ballooned to $150 million, and the political fight over how to fill the growing budget hole shows no signs of a solution.

Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler says the Medicaid program, which serves more than 1 million people statewide, won’t be able to achieve more than $350 million in cuts mandated by the state budget under its current operations.

Cansler says the budget offers him only one option to accomplish the required savings: deep cuts to optional services and to the reimbursement rates the state pays Medicaid providers.

For more on this story, including video interview with Sect. Cansler, click HERE.

 

From the News and Observer 12.27.11

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/27/1735664/booze-and-pills-catch-up-to-aging.html#ixzz1hkkJjSSw