News in brief - Oct. 1, 2007

Bush challenged on SCHIP limits

Forty-four senators -- including six Republicans and one independent -- signed a letter last month asking President Bush to rescind guidance limiting eligibility for the State Children's Health Insurance Program to children from families earning less than 250% of the federal poverty level ($51,625 for a family of four). Also, a bipartisan group of four senators introduced legislation to nullify the guidance, and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said he would ignore it.

In a letter to Bush, Corzine said New Jersey would continue to serve the 10,000 children who would be affected by the rule. He said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services overstepped its authority by issuing the guidance without the typical notification and comment period for such a significant policy change.

New Jersey's SCHIP covers 120,000 children and has the highest eligibility in the nation at 350% of the poverty level. Corzine also said that if necessary he would pursue legal action, which New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer also has threatened.

Back to top.

Medicaid directors call for delay of law requiring use of tamper-proof prescription pads

The National Assn. of State Medicaid Directors last month sent a letter asking the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Finance Committee to delay by one year a new law that will require most Medicaid prescriptions to be written on tamper-resistant pads starting Oct. 1. Physicians serving Medicaid patients will have to use pads with at least one security feature for written prescriptions, according to guidance issued on Aug. 17 -- about six weeks before the law would go into effect.

The guidance, offered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is the result of a one-paragraph provision inserted in a military spending bill Congress adopted in late May. The one-year delay is needed to give states, physicians and pharmacists time to understand what kinds of prescription pads are needed and to get them to physicians, stated the letter, which was signed by 34 organizations, including the American Medical Association.

Back to top.