Thousands of Arkansans at risk of losing Medicaid coverage
More than 5,000 people are at immediate risk of losing Medicaid coverage in Arkansas for failing to comply with the state’s work requirement, according to data from the state. 5,426 people did not comply with the requirement in June and July. People who do not meet the requirement for three months are locked out of the program for the remainder of the year.
Reporting to the state appears to be an issue as well. Of the 43,794 individuals who were required to report their employment status to the state in July, 12,722 did not do so; only 844 did. More than 30,000 Arkansans met the requirement. (Report - PDF)
CMS approves New Jersey §1332 waiver
On Thursday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved New Jersey’s request to waive the Affordable Care Act’s single risk pool requirement to implement a reinsurance program. The program, known as the New Jersey Health Insurance Premium Security Plan, will be in place from 2019 through 2023.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma tweeted to applaud New Jerseyans—complete with clapping emoji—the same day. Individual market premiums in the Garden State are expected to decrease by 15%, she wrote. (Letter - PDF)
Pronovost out as CMO of UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare’s new CMO, Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., is with the company no longer. A spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, confirmed Pronovost’s exit on Wednesday to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, but did not provide further comment.
Pronovost, who joined UnitedHealthcare in January after 20 years with Johns Hopkins University, is nationally known as an expert on patient safety. He developed a protocol to reduce infections from central venous catheters. (Becker's Hospital Review)