Tagged: Medicaid

More than 135,000 high-cost Illinois patients who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid will be assigned to a managed care health plan by early next year, if they don't opt out of a new program to coordinate their care.

The initiative is a partnership between Illinois and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Illinois is the fourth state to get approval for such a demonstration project, aimed at providing better care at lower costs for a group of patients known as "dual eligibles." The federal agency announced its approval Friday.

Democratic Governor Jay Nixon hasn’t stopped advocating for Missouri to accept the federal government’s money for Medicaid expansion, in spite of state Republican lawmakers leaving it out of their proposed budget.

Nixon lobbied in St. Charles Wednesday for the state to accept $900 million to expand the program to over a quarter of a million low income adults.

Nixon has appealed throughout the state. What makes Nixon’s stop in St. Charles unique is that the area is typically conservative turf.