Tag Archive for 'Medicaid'

Democratic leaders and Obama strive to increase health provisions in incentive package

Published on December 13, 2008 in Health and Wellness. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Washington Post (12/12, Connolly) discloses that Democratic leaders and president-elect Obama are working on plans to increase health amenities in January’s economic recovery legislation. They profess that putting an enormous amount of money into an assortment of health programs will give the economy a much needed lift and begin to lay the pavement for a more expansive healthcare reform package.

More federal Medicaid spending has already been guaranteed by Obama for the stimulus package. A huge investment in health information technology also has been promised by Obama. Currently, discussions are going on about increasing money to retrain medical workers, enlarging the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and broadening COBRA. 

An executive vice president at AARP, Nancy LeaMond, views these endeavors as a great beginning towards the goal of a more expansive health reform.

Mayors and governors push congress to increase unemployment insurance and Medicaid spending

Published on November 17, 2008 in Health Insurance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The mayors and governors of the U.S. are pushing Congress to boost the economy by extending unemployment insurance and increasing funding for Medicaid.

They believe that the foremost way to help the economy is to intensify spending at the local level. Some governors are even cultivating a federal spending plan that could amount to $126 billion. The project, which will unfold during a two year period, incorporates $20 billion in federal Medicaid matching dollars in this same time period.

Janet Napolitano (D), the Arizona Governor, spoke in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee on Thursday to talk about the urgency of having an extended federal Medicaid donation in a second incentive program. She claims that boosting the federal Medicaid match is a must in an age when an increasing number of people require health insurance, as the sagging economy causes them to become unemployed.

Expanding unemployment insurance benefits by seven weeks, or an extra thirteen weeks in states having elevated unemployment rates, is suggested by the National League of Cities.