Latest news with #SenateBill130
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A bill to rein in Medicaid fraud could push out eligible Louisianans, critics warn
A bill aimed at strengthening oversight of Louisiana's Medicaid program unanimously passed the state's senate Tuesday. Senate Bill 130, sponsored by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, seeks to implement a series of data-driven checks and technological tools to ensure that only eligible residents receive Medicaid benefits. The bill requires the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to conduct regular cross-checks with state and federal agencies, including the Department of Revenue and Social Security Administration. LDH must also review death records monthly, verify incarceration status quarterly and independently determine eligibility. It also limits automatic (ex parte) renewals unless required by federal law, with a phase-out of current waivers by January 2026. The bill is part of a broader effort to curb waste and fraud in the program, which provides health coverage to more than 1.8 million low-income Louisianans. But critics of the bill warn that the proposed changes could create administrative hurdles for eligible individuals and lead to disenrollment of vulnerable residents due to paperwork errors or data discrepancies. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'We know that any time that there is any additional step for verification, it's an opportunity for someone to lose coverage,' said Courtney Foster, senior policy advisor for Medicaid at Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan policy research organization. 'A lot of what this bill says will be savings is for people getting kicked off of Medicaid.' That doesn't necessarily mean that all of those people that are getting kicked off are ineligible, Foster said. It could just mean that they didn't respond to official correspondence. Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, brought up these concerns on the senate floor. 'If for whatever reason I don't answer the first time, or I think it's junk mail, it gets thrown out,' Boudreaux said. 'How do we have comfort knowing that on the certification process, that we're going to go above and beyond before we drop people off of the Medicaid rolls?' Cloud responded saying the bill doesn't change the current process for removing people from Medicaid if they don't meet eligibility requirements. The removal process, as she explained it, starts when LDH identifies a possible issue with a person's Medicaid eligibility — such as needing to verify income or address — they begin by sending a letter requesting more information. This initial letter follows federal guidelines and allows five days for delivery. After that, LDH gives the person an additional 15 days to respond. During this combined 20-day window, the department also tries to contact them through other means, including phone calls, emails and text messages, to make sure they know what's needed to keep their coverage. If there's still no response after 20 days, LDH sends an official 'advance notice of termination' letting the person know their Medicaid coverage will end. This notice must be sent at least 15 days before the termination takes effect. Because Medicaid coverage usually ends at the end of a month, this timing can sometimes give people a bit of extra time — potentially another full month of coverage — before they're removed from the rolls. Cloud added that even after someone is dropped from Medicaid, they have another 90 days to provide the needed information and get their coverage reinstated retroactively. 'So theoretically, they have up to 125 days after the first [letter] was sent out to get their coverage reinstated if they are terminated,' Cloud said. 'It would be as if they'd never lost coverage. So that gave me a lot of comfort.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The fiscal note says reducing enrollment of ineligible recipients could save $74.9 million by 2026 and $941.5 million over five years, including state and federal dollars. The methodology for this savings includes the state assuming a majority of applicants won't respond to requests for more information, and only a fraction will attempt to re-enroll. Foster said most of the savings would come from procedural denials, not necessarily policy improvements. And the cost-savings associated with the bill are 'questionable,' she said, because most of the time, when someone loses Medicaid coverage, they don't realize it until the next time they go to the doctor or emergency room. That could mean people who are disenrolled from Medicaid for procedural reasons, but do qualify for coverage, may simply get back on Medicaid. 'A lot of people who will be kicked off are likely eligible and may roll back on within a couple of months,' Foster said. Implementing the bill would also cost money, including operating expenses of $139,297 for printing and postage, $4.5 million for professional services, like system modifications and subscription services, and $104,050 for equipment, like computers and phones. It also calls for creating 50 new positions with salaries and benefits, which Foster said adds additional layers of bureaucracy dedicated to 'kicking people off of Medicaid.' It's also important to remember, Foster said, that Medicaid beneficiaries are not the ones getting paid. The program gives low-income people access to consistent health care coverage. 'It's people that are showing up to the doctor and then maybe the doctor should be getting paid from one source versus another,' Foster said. 'But the patient themselves is just going to the doctor.' If signed into law, the bill would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. This report was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR. Support for public health coverage comes from The Commonwealth Fund.
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
DeSantis should sign bill to fix wrongful conviction law and compensate victims
Editorials DeSantis should sign bill to fix wrongful conviction law and compensate victims | Opinion Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee on March 4, 2025. mocner@ After years of trying, the Florida Legislature successfully passed a bill to make it easier for those who are wrongfully imprisoned to receive compensation. Senate Bill 130 and its companion House Bill 59 were passed unanimously by both the House and Senate. Now the bill awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature to become law. The bill is a much-needed fix for wrongful compensation legislation that was passed in 2008. The Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act allows people who are wrongfully convicted to receive compensation of $50,000 for every year behind bars. But a 'clean hands' requirement in that law says exonerees with more than one nonviolent felony on their previous record must seek legislative action in order to be eligible for compensation. SB 130 eliminates that provision. Florida is the only state with this sort of clean hands provision. The state makes a distinction between individuals wrongfully convicted: those with clean records and those without. The former receives compensation while the latter must jump through hoops to receive the compensation they deserve. That is neither fair nor just. A past criminal record shouldn't stop you from qualifying for compensation if you were wrongfully incarcerated for something else. If the state mistakenly took your liberty, the least it can do is give you some money as compensation. The bill that passed the Legislature this year also extends the window to file for compensation from 90 days to two years. The extension of time is needed. The 90-day window — which starts on the day a person's conviction is vacated — could easily run out if the person doesn't have a lawyer or if there's delay in officially dropping the charges once the conviction is vacated. So even if someone was wrongfully convicted, they could lose the chance to apply for compensation. The executive director for the Innocence Project of Florida, Seth Miller, explained that 'the bill extends that statute of limitations from 90 days to two years, which gives people substantial time to petition for compensation. And that two years runs not from when their conviction is vacated, but rather when the case is fully resolved.' For individuals who have spent years behind bars for a crime they didn't commit, this change offers a pathway to justice. Broward County resident Sidney Holmes had his conviction overturned after serving 34 years for armed robbery. Under the clean hands rule, Holmes wasn't entitled to automatic compensation, because he had two prior armed robbery convictions. He was only able to receive compensation under what's known as a claims bill, which must be approved by the Legislature and can take years. As the current law stands, it is failing the people, such as Holmes, who were wrongly sent to prison. DeSantis has an opportunity to fix that issue. Since 1989, 91 people have been exonerated in Florida, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, but only five individuals have received compensation since the current law was enacted. Florida's efforts to amend the law in the past have stalled because of changes in legislative leadership. 'Every time we got close, the leadership would turn over,' Miller said. 'All the work you've done over the course of two or four years to educate the people in the Legislature about why this is important — you would kind of have to start over.' While monetary compensation cannot give back years lost or birthdays missed, the state has a moral obligation to do what it can to make up for a mistaken incarceration. Money isn't enough, but it's a start. By signing the bill into law, DeSantis will signal the importance of government accountability. For Holmes and other Floridians who have faced an uphill battle to receive compensation for the years they lost due to wrongful convictions, the amendment makes it easier to get what they should be entitled to. It's an overdue correction to an existing law. DeSantis must not delay in signing the bill. Click here to send the letter. BEHIND THE STORY MORE What's an editorial? Editorials are opinion pieces that reflect the views of the Miami Herald Editorial Board, a group of opinion journalists that operates separately from the Miami Herald newsroom. Miami Herald Editorial Board members are: opinion editor Amy Driscoll and editorial writers Luisa Yanez and Isadora Rangel. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right. What's the difference between an op-ed and a column? Op-Eds, short for 'opposite the editorial page,' are opinion pieces written by contributors who are not affiliated with our Editorial Board. 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