Month: February 2013

Expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care law is a good deal for any state, a top federal health official who previously served a long stint in Wisconsin government said Monday. (AP, 2/26)

LogistiCare, the much-criticized company that's been dispatching medical rides for Medicaid patients in Wisconsin since 2011, will be leaving the state after all. LogistiCare, along with four other prospective bidders, had officially told the state this month that they intended to bid on a new contract. But company officials changed their minds at the last minute out of financial concerns, a manager told the Journal Sentinel on Friday. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/25)

State Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith stepped down from his post Friday to take a job with a Washington law firm, and his deputy was elevated to the top spot. The move comes as Gov. Scott Walker is seeking to avoid a full expansion of state Medicaid programs funded under the federal health care law. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/25)

Much of what Americans know about health insurance will change beginning in 2014, except for the part where it keeps getting more expensive. “There is nothing about this on the grand scale that is going to be affordable,” Bret McKitrick, human resources consultant for Associated Financial Group, said of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. “The word affordable should have been accessible.” (GREEN BAY PRESS GAZETTE, 2/22)

Medicaid would return to its “intended purpose as a safety net for the neediest” by shifting some people off the program, adding others and refusing the full expansion allowed under federal law, according to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget for 2013-15. The budget would also boost spending for mental health, rural health, nursing homes and a statewide medical imaging project at UW-Madison. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 2/21)

Wisconsin Medical Examining Board members and staff should receive more training, and the board could do more if had more staff, members said Wednesday in discussing the State Journal's "Doctor Discipline" series last month. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 2/21)

Officials at Epic Systems are not commenting on a New York Times report Wednesday that the firm was central in lobbying Congress on a $19 billion “giveaway” to convert all U.S. medical records from paper to computers. The story contends that executives of the largest digital records companies — including Epic, Cerner and Allscripts — poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into a behind-the-scenes effort to promote the use of electronic records, effectively pushing aside smaller competitors. (CAPITAL TIMES, 2/21)

Governor Scott Walker’s decision to decline expanded Medicaid funding won’t significantly affect Tomah Memorial Hospital, said TMH Chief Executive Officer Phil Stuart Friday. “I don’t see it negatively impacting our hospital right now based on the demographics of the population we serve,” Stuart said. “It might have an impact on more urban hospitals.” (TOMAH JOURNAL, 2/20)