Washington Post Article "Healthcare.gov Troubles Don’t Change Public’s View Of Health Law, Poll Finds"

Healthcare.gov Troubles Don’t Change Public’s View Of Health Law, Poll Finds. – WASHINGTON POST. The public has a dim view of how the government has rolled out the health care law so far, but those stumbles have not changed people’s overall opinions of the law itself, a new poll finds.

By Jordan Rau | Kaiser Health News, Published: November 1

The public has a dim view of how the government has rolled out the health care law so far, but those stumbles have not changed people’s overall opinions of the law itself, a new poll finds.
The Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 48 percent of people think the federal government has done a poor job of implementing the law, and another 32 percent give the government an “only fair” review. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

Only 14 percent gave the federal government good or excellent reviews for the rollout of the law.  The public was slightly less critical about state government management of the law, but even there, 63 percent said their state had done either a poor or “only fair” job.
Republicans were overwhelmingly critical of the federal government efforts, but even a majority of Democrats gave the government bad or middling reviews.
The pollsters did not ask specifically about people’s views on the rollout of the online marketplaces where many people have had trouble enrolling in new plans since they opened at the start of October. More than half of the public was following the technical problems of healthcare.gov closely, but that was fewer than said they were closely following the government shutdown, the economy or efforts to track down Syria’s chemical weapons.
So far, the snags in those marketplaces have not altered the public’s divided view of the law, although the survey was concluded before the deluge of reports on people getting cancellation notices from their insurers. Forty-four percent said they oppose the health care law and 38 expressed support for it, reflecting the same split in previous monthly surveys. Forty-seven percent want to expand it or keep it as is, while 37 percent want to repeal it. The split remains highly partisan, with Democrats backing the law and Republicans opposing it.
The poll found that more people are reporting that they have seen or heard advertisements related to the law, A third of the public said they saw or heard advertisements explaining how people can get insurance, double the number that said they saw or heard that kind of ad in September. About the same percentage say they saw ads supporting the law or criticizing it.
The informational ads are considered an important component of the effort to get people to purchase insurance or to enroll in Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for low-income people. Despite the increase in attention, 44 percent of people still say they do not have enough information about the law to understand how it will impact them and their families.
The pollsters interviewed 1,513 adults from Oct. 17 through 23. That was after the federal government shutdown had ended but before the Republican-controlled House started holding hearings on malfunctions in the healthcare.gov website. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.

Article "NM Fighting to Save Behavioral Health"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 31, 2013

Contact: Christi Fields at (505) 604-0221, or Christi_Fields@hotmail.com.
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NEW MEXICANS FIGHTING TO SAVE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

 

Arizona Firms Lay off New Mexico Behavioral Health Employees

 

The legacy of the shutdown of many of New Mexico’s behavioral health agencies by the State’s Human Services Department (HSD) continues to reap tragic results.  A former therapist with a Valencia County behavioral health agency has reported staff layoffs are causing trauma to mental health clients, at a time when New Mexico leads the nation with the highest rate of mental illness.

 

 Ed Church, who was hired by Valle del Sol, the Arizona firm chosen to take over operations of Valencia Counseling Services last summer, says Valle del Sol has “laid off three counselors, leaving effectively two others to see 380 clients.”

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Nine layoffs are also reported in Raton and Espanola.  In Roswell, the employee count has diminished from 87 pre-takeover to 39 at present.  Therapists report that diminishing employee numbers statewide have severely impacted client service. 

 

Church says: “There are clients in substance abuse relapse, recently discharged from the hospital and those that will run out of meds on a daily basis who won't be seen for admittance into the services because there are even fewer therapists available to schedule new intakes.”

 

The former therapist says Valle del Sol states the reasons for the layoffs are “revenue shortfalls”.  He questions how this could be, since the NM Human Services Department has committed $18 million dollars to underwrite the transition to the Arizona firms, and is paying Arizona executives up to $300/hour to manage the transition.  He further states: “I thought we were guaranteed three month positions. I also believe Valle del Sol received state monies for a three month transition process.”

 

“This travesty,” says Church, “continues to create trauma and is a slap in the face to mental health clients who won't have any transition or termination interviews. Their appointments, I was told, would simply be cancelled.” 

 

The shutdown of New Mexico’s behavioral health agencies was triggered last summer by a $4 million audit alleging “possible fraud”, yet to be proven.  The action has affected 30,000 clients coping with mental illness, alcoholism and substance abuse. 
 
It is believed by behavioral health advocates that although HSD alleges a 90% rehire rate, the layoffs may be a precursor to similar actions in other agencies since many former employees, like Church, were hired on a 90-day basis.
 
For more information on the shutdown and its effects, go to YouTube/New Mexico Behavioral Health.

Health coverage Mandate CMS: No Penalty for Signup To March 31 Q&A

NM CLP in the News "States see high interest in Medicaid coverage"

States see high interest in Medicaid coverage

By Jennifer Haberkorn

10/28/13 6:05 PM EDT

HealthCare.gov might be limping along to full viability, but Medicaid is flying off the shelves.
New Medicaid enrollment is far outpacing new insurance customers under Obamacare so far, a subtle sign that the program could play a greater role in the law’s coverage expansion than first anticipated. Some people are signing up for the Medicaid expansion created by the president’s health law. Others were already eligible for their state’s current Medicaid program but until this outreach campaign about health coverage they had never signed up.

In Washington state, for instance, the overwhelming number of people signing up for health coverage are eligible for Medicaid, state figures show. Of the 35,528 state residents who had signed up in the first three weeks of enrollment, 55 percent were part of the Medicaid expansion population, and 32 percent were eligible for the state’s existing Medicaid program. Only 13 percent signed up for a new private insurance plan.

In Kentucky, another state running its own exchange, 26,174 people had enrolled in new coverage as of Thursday. Four out of five had enrolled in Medicaid.

So far, only a few states have released enrollment figures. And the federal government doesn’t plan to put out figures for the 36 states where they are running the exchanges until next month. But the figures in a few states could be emblematic of a national trend.

There are several reasons for the spurt of Medicaid coverage, much of which health policy experts had expected.

Health officials were always expecting the massive media attention on Obamacare to spur people who were eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled to sign up — a phenomenon dubbed the “woodwork” effort (as in crawling out of the woodwork), or the friendlier term “welcome mat” effect. For those people, coverage could start as soon as the state approves the application. For expanded Medicaid and the private health insurance plans on the exchange, the start date for coverage is Jan. 1.

New Mexico just put its Medicaid application online as part of the expansion, and that’s made the sign-up process easier for some people.

“The big change for us is that we now have an online application for Medicaid,” said Sovereign Hager, a staff attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. She’s personally helped about five or six people through the sign-up process but hasn’t heard of many people in New Mexico getting through the troubled federal HealthCare.gov.

Medicaid also doesn’t have a premium — and is the only option for people who are eligible. Customers shopping for private plans onHealthCare.gov — if they can get through — likely have multiple plans to choose from. And they have premiums to pay in nearly all cases, even if they get federal subsidies.

“This is not really a surprise, but free is easier to sell than low-cost — and Medicaid enrollment is free,” said Alan Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy. “It’s a lot easier to close the deal if at the end of the process, you can offer someone a product without a premium — even if the exchange premium is highly subsidized.”

The Medicaid population — even the Medicaid expansion population — is also a known entity in most states. Many people who will be eligible for the Medicaid expansion are already enrolled in other state safety net programs, or charity-care programs at hospitals. That means their contact information is likely already in a database — and many institutions have already sent information about how to enroll in Medicaid.

Medicaid, while booming in some areas, isn’t without its own enrollment troubles.
The 36 states using the federal insurance exchange won’t begin receiving Medicaid applications on Nov. 1, according to the National Association of Medicaid Directors. After one earlier delay, the exchange was supposed to start sending the data this week, but technical problems forced another indefinite delay.

“The agency is now prepared to start testing this function with any state Medicaid agency that is ready,” the group’s weekly report said, “but did not give a new target date for transfers to begin.”
The delay could further complicate the enrollment process because many states are allowed 45 days to review applications before determining eligibility.

Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.

To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?id=27311

News Article "Under Bush, Republicans Vigorously Defended Health Care Reform Despite Serious Glitches"

Under Bush, Republicans Vigorously Defended Health Care Reform Despite Serious Glitches

By Igor Volsky on October 24, 2013 at 8:49 am

Millions of Americans try to enroll in health care benefits during the first days of a new government health care program. They rely on indispensable government website that had been “pitched as a high-tech way” to sort through available coverage options. They’re encountering countless glitches and technical errors: the website freezes, displays incorrect plan information and sends insurers erroneous reports.

Administration officials — clearly caught off guard by the surge of technical difficulties — respond to “tens of thousands of complaints” from angry beneficiaries and promise to “fix every problem as quickly possible.”

This sounds like the familiar story of the last few days of the Obama administration’s rollout of the exchanges. But, actually, those quotes, and that scenario, are taken from the Bush administration’s efforts to implement the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2005 and 2006.

Not only was Bush’s rollout “anything but smooth,” but administration officials had “some trouble getting the [online] tool up and running” and had to delay its debut for weeks. What’s more, computer glitches caused low-income beneficiaries to go without needed medications and sent pharmacies the wrong drug information. Before it was all resolved, Dr. Mark McClellan, Bush’s head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), appeared at hearings before the House Committee On Energy And Commerce, laying out the flaws in the law’s implementation and detailing how the administration would address them.

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee holds its first hearing on the implementation of the the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, it’s worth noting that some of the very same Republicans who are lashing out against Obamacare, arguing that the botched rollout is proof that the government cannot implement effectively and should repeal the law entirely, gave the Bush administration a pass and urged Americans not to pre-judge such a complicated process. At least four of the Republicans still on the committee had argued that early implementation hurdles should not taint the entirety of reform:

REP. JOE BARTON (R-TX): “This is a huge undertaking and there are going to be glitches. My goal is the same as yours: Get rid of the glitches. The committee will work closely with yourself and Dr. Mark McClellan at CMS to get problems noticed and solved.” [Barton Statement via Archive.org, 2/15/2006]

REP. TIM MURPHY (R-PA): “Any time something is new, there is going to be some glitches. All of us, when our children were new, well, we knew as parents we didn’t exactly know everything we were doing and we had a foul-up or two, but we persevered and our children turned out well. No matter what one does in life, when it is something new in learning the ropes of it, it is going to take a little adjustment.” [Murphy Floor Speech via Congressional Record, 4/6/2006]

REP. MICHAEL BURGESS (R-TX): “We can’t undo the past, but certainly they can make the argument that we are having this hearing a month late and perhaps we are, but the reality is the prescription drug benefit is 40 years late and seniors who signed up for Medicare those first days back in 1965 when they were 65 years of age are now 106 years of age waiting for that prescription drug benefit, so I hope it doesn’t take us that long to get this right and I don’t believe that it will. And I do believe that fundamentally it is a good plan.” [“Medicare Part D: Implementation of the New Drug Benefit,” 3/1/2006]

REP. PHIL GINGREY (R-GA): “I delivered 5,200 babies, but this may be the best delivery that I have ever been a part of, Mr. Speaker, and that is delivering, as I say, on a promise made by former Congresses and other Presidents over the 45-year history of the Medicare program, which was introduced in 1965 with no prescription drug benefit. And what we have done here is add part D, the ‘D’ for ‘drug’ or, if you want, the ‘delivery’ that we have finally provided to our American seniors.” [Gingrey Floor Speech via Congressional Record, 4/6/06]

Ultimately, the Bush administration fixed the law’s technical glitches, but more than half of the beneficiaries who ended up signing up for insurance didn’t do so until after the first of the year. Significantly, they signed up for coverage despite the Bush administration’s well-publicized initial glitches in extending coverage to low-income beneficiaries. Whereas only 21 percent of seniors had a favorable impression of the law and 66 percent didn’t know what was in it in April of 2005, by November of 2006, “half of the seniors polled said the program was working well or that just minor changes were needed.”

Bridge Project provided research assistance for this post.

Senator Begich Introduces Legislation to Streamline the Definition of Indian in the Affordable Care Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Caitrin Shuy at cshuy@nihb.org or 202-374-9966

 

Senator Begich Introduces Legislation to Streamline the Definition of Indian in the Affordable Care Act

 

 

On October 16, 2013, Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) with Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Senator Al Franken (D-MN), and Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced a bill (S.1575) that would streamline the Definition of Indian in the Affordable Care Act.  This is an important first step in ensuring that all American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) receive the benefits and protections intended for them in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

 

The "Definitions of Indian" in the ACA are not consistent with the definitions already used by the Indian Health Service (IHS), Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) for services provided to American Indians and Alaska Natives.  The ACA definitions, which currently require that a person is a member of a federally recognized Tribe or an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation, are narrower than those used by IHS, Medicaid and CHIP, thereby leaving out a sizeable population of AI/ANs that the ACA was intended to benefit and protect. 

 

National Indian Health Board Chair Cathy Abramson said, "On behalf of the 566 Tribal nations we serve, the National Indian Health Board would like to express the deepest gratitude to Senators Begich and Baucus for introducing this important legislation. This bill will help to create parity in the American Indian and Alaska Native community with respect to provisions contained in the Affordable Care Act.  If enacted, this measure will ensure that everyone is eligible to receive the protections and benefits that are designed to enhance health care access for all American Indians and Alaska Natives."

 

Unless the definition of Indian in the ACA is changed, many AI/ANs will not be eligible for the special protections and benefits intended for them in the law.  These benefits include cost-sharing and monthly enrollment benefits.  This bill will also create statutory language to guarantee that AI/ANs are not subjected to tax penalties for not having insurance, even though they are eligible for Indian health care programs.  

 

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Free Legal Fair Raymond G Sanchez Community Center in Albuquerque Medicaid/NMHIX enrollment

Free Legal Fair  and Medicaid Enrollment!

Free legal services for low income people and families Divorce/Custody/Support Public Benefits     Probate Guardianships  Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Creditor/Debtor Landlord/Tenant Immigration Worker's Compensation  First-come, first-served basis - Interpreters and bilingual attorneys available* -   *For Vietnamese interpreter services, Please RSVP to New Mexico Asian Family Center (NMAFC) at (505) 717-2877     On site Medicaid enrollment for children and adults    Required documents: Picture ID Birth certificate Proof of income for the most current month Written proof of pregnancy, if applicable Current insurance card, if any      Additionally, consumer-friendly resources on health care reform enrollment and insurance reform will be available.

When

Tuesday  OCT. 22, 2013  From 3pm to 6pm

Where

Raymond G. Sanchez  Community Center  9800 4th Street NW  Albuquerque, NM

Presented by the Second Judicial District Pro Bono Committee Medicaid Enrollment Services and Health Care Reform Materials Provided by Youth Development Inc., Southwest Women's Law Center, and NM Center on Law and Poverty