New Hampshire will be the first state in the country to receive new Medicaid grant money to help seniors and people with disabilities remain in their homes.
The state will receive $26.5 million over three years through the Affordable Care Act.
The goal is to help states shift from institutional care to home and community-based services.
In 2009, 41 percent of New Hampshire’s Medicaid money was spent on community-based services.
That will increase to 47 percent in 2013 with the new grant money.
The House Health and Human Services Committee has sent an amended bill allowing not just Cancer Specialty Hospitals but all specialty hospitals to bypass the Certificate of Need process. All other hospitals in the state must go in front of the CON board to gain approval for new or expanded services.
Rep. Lynn Blakenbeker, Republican of Concord, voted in favor of the bill.
"We as a state should be encouraging businesses all kinds to come into the state especially when it comes to specialty healthcare treatment we should be offering all options," she says.
Casaundra Bronner, of Hazelwood, Mo., worked in marketing before being laid off in March 2010. She found a job again in March 2011 but is still uninsured and having trouble getting the health care she needs.
Credit Whitney Curtis for NPR
Randy Howland, of St. Louis, lost his job in September 2009. He has found work again, but he still doesn't have insurance and has had seizures in the past. He pays for medication out of pocket, but doesn't get all the regular testing his doctors recommend.
Zumba is a fitness craze; a high-energy dance and exercise program. You can find it in high-end gyms and even the community center in Hazelwood, Mo., where Casaundra Bronner, 40, lives.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, every state must have a health insurance exchange in place by January 2014. An exchange is a clearinghouse of sorts where people and small business can go to buy insurance and also find out which tax rebates they may use to help them buy coverage.
Recently, the Obama Administration announced plans to change Labor Department rules so that home care workers–personal care aides and home health aides–are guaranteed federal minimum wage and overtime pay.
By far, our most popular post to date is a map we created using federal data on which states offer minimum wage and overtime guarantees to home health workers, and which don't.
