Debra Miller

Author Articles

Communications Lessons From the Gulf Oil Spill

By
Debra Miller
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 02:24 PM

Governing magazine offers three lessons for government officials at all levels from the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. The author, Steven Goldsmith, suggests that the lessons are relevant far outside of the current environmental disaster.

If you attended the CSG Economic Summit in New York in May and enjoyed Vincent Covello, these communication lessons fit right in with his presentation on crisis communication.

Debate over Medicaid Match Continues

By
Debra Miller
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Friday, June 18, 2010 at 11:56 AM

The NY Times reports that Democrats failed again on Thursday, June 17, to win enough votes to move forward on approving the enhanced Medicaid match extension that many states are counting on in their FY 2011 budgets. “We’re not going to give up,” said Senator Harry Reid.

Senator Reid Vows to Keep Fighting for Medicaid Enhanced Match Extension

By
Debra Miller
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Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 02:04 PM

Despite losing a vote yesterday, U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has vowed to continue to fight to add the six-month extension of the enhanced Medicaid match to HR 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. The act will also extend unemployment benefits that have already run out for some Americans.

Senate Democrats are reported to be shrinking...

New Federal Funds to Expand Primary Health Care Providers Announced Today

By
Debra Miller
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 03:57 PM

Today Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the availability of $250 million to expand the primary health care workforce. The funds are part of the federal reform legislation passed in March.

The funds will be used to expand the number of primary care physicians by 500 by 2015 and support training for additional physician assistants and nurse practitioners. States will be granted $5 million to plan and...

Odds Shifting on Medicaid Match Extension

By
Debra Miller
|
Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 02:52 PM
E-newsletter Issue #48 | June 10, 2010


Federal funding to further prop up states’ Medicaid budgets—and by extension overall state budgets—seemed like a sure bet just weeks ago. Now the odds on that bet appear to be shifting away from states’ favor, and some predict without the federal funding, nearly 1 million jobs could be lost to state budget-cutting actions as a result.

Medicaid Extension Likely to Pass US Senate, Averting Huge State Deficits

By
Debra Miller
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 02:03 PM

Worst case scenarios abound if Congress fails to extend for another six months the enhanced Medicaid match begun by the 2009 stimulus. CSG’s recent survey found that over half the states have already counted on the extension, from January 1 until June 30, 2011, in their budget deliberations for FY 2011. The Senate appears poised to put the extension back in the so-called “tax extender” bill next week.

Health Care Reform: Six Ways It Will Affect States

By
Debra MillerKathryn Tormey
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 12:00 AM

There are varying perspectives on the more than 2,500-page health care reform law, signed by President Obama in late March 2010, but most state policymakers can agree on one thing: A lot is going to change in the next four years.

Book of the States, 2010: Chapter 9

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Health Care Reform: Will States Be Left Holding the Bag?: Session Summary

By
Debra Miller
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Friday, May 28, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Newly enacted federal health care reform legislation promises to expand health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans through a variety of reforms, marketplace innovations, and Medicaid program expansions.  States are mandated partners in these policy changes and the associated budgetary obligations.

Medicaid Costs in the Eye of the Beholder

By
Debra Miller
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Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Today the Kaiser Family Foundation teamed up with Urban Institute and released state-by-state estimates of the costs to meet the Medicaid coverage expansion mandated for 2014.

The report modeled two scenarios. The “standard participation” scenario uses CBO data that estimates 57 percent of newly eligible uninsured persons will enroll in Medicaid with an overall $21 billion increase in state expenses...

Three Experts Tell of Promising State Practices to Control the Cost of Medicaid

By
Debra Miller
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Marcia Nielsen, vice chancellor for public policy and planning at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said at the 2010 CSG Economic Summit of the States that to cut costs in state Medicaid programs, states have to know what they’re doing right and what areas can be improved.

“Legislators were so focused on welfare moms on where to find savings and looking at potential misuse of pharmaceuticals,” she said of her experience in Kansas. But the answer lay elsewhere. The data from studies Kansas conducted...

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