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A bill proposed by Rep. Sydnie Mae Durand would allow the Department of Health and Hospitals to include two more classes of drugs on the Medicaid Pharmacy Program’s preferred drug list. This action could save the state $11.1 million while still ensuring recipients’ access to the necessary medications.
In light of recent news reports that the pain-relieving drugs Celebrex and Bextra might increase risk for heart attacks and strokes, the Department of Health and Hospitals is placing safeguards in the Medicaid Pharmacy Program to ensure these drugs are prescribed with caution.
Many pregnant women who apply and are eligible for LaMOMS health coverage are now receiving their Medicaid card in less than a week. This means they can begin receiving important prenatal care sooner, thanks to some new Department of Health & Hospitals policies and procedures for priority processing of their applications.
Studies conducted by the Department of Health and Hospitals show that certain communities in central Louisiana have a larger percentage of families with children who are qualified for, but not enrolled in, the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program. LaCHIP is a free health insurance program designed for the children (up to age 19) of Louisiana’s working families who earn more than allowed in traditional Medicaid. For example, a family of four can earn approximately $38,000 a year and still qualify for LaCHIP.
Louisiana’s efforts to reduce the number of children living without health insurance have received a significant boost from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The department’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded an additional $10.7 million to the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides no-cost health care coverage for low-income children under the age of 19.
The statistics are sobering. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in five children nationwide between the ages of six to 17 are overweight. This is double the number reported just 30 years ago. To help combat this problem, the La. Department of Health and Hospitals will be starting a four-month program aimed at getting kids off the couch and burning calories.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Medicaid Program, in conjunction with Louisiana Covering Kids & Families, has begun a targeted two-year outreach project designed to reduce the number of uninsured children in the central Louisiana area.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced today it has filed a request with the federal Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to participate in a multi-state Medicaid drug purchasing pool.
Noting that “the state of Louisiana has an interest in providing a comprehensive, community-based health care delivery system with preventive and primary health care as its foundation,” Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has proclaimed the week of November 28 through December 4 CommunityCARE and KIDMED Week in Louisiana. In emphasizing CommunityCARE and KIDMED Week, the Department of Health and Hospitals hopes to ensure primary care services for Medicaid clients and increase preventive health screening for children through these programs.
The goal set by Gov. Blanco at the March Health Care Summit to enroll all eligible children into the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program (LaCHIP) has reached a major milestone. At the June meeting of the Governor’s Health Care Reform Panel, Gov. Blanco set a short-term goal for the Department of Health and Hospitals to quickly enroll into LaCHIP 25 percent of the children who remained eligible.
A group of Baton Rouge-area health care providers has received a federal Healthy Communities Access Program (HCAP) grant to expand primary care treatment for the uninsured through an improved computer tracking system.
Noting that, “of the Louisiana children who qualify for the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Progam, 77,500 are still uninsured,” Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has declared August LaCHIP Month for the State of Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is teaming up with other government entities, community organizations and retail outlets to give families preparing for back-to-school time an opportunity to apply for no-cost health insurance from the state.