News
So you want to privatize Medicaid? Has HHS got a guide for you. States have lots of questions about whether they can use Medicaid expansion dollars to buy private insurance coverage, the so-called Arkansas option. Washington Post
CA: Editorial: Resurrecting California’s Public Universities. Even before the recession hit, the public colleges and universities that educate more than 70 percent of the nation’s students were suffering from dwindling state revenue. Their response, not surprisingly, was to raise tuition, slash course offerings and, in some cases, freeze or even reduce student enrollment. The damage was acute in California, whose once-glorious system of higher education effectively cannibalized itself, shutting out a growing number of well-qualified students. New York Times
MA: Massachusetts Public-Private Partnerships: Time to Prime the Pump. This week, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed four members to the Special Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Oversight Commission (the Commission), thereby accelerating the prospect that Massachusetts may be willing to enter into agreements with private institutions to build, operate or manage some of the Commonwealth’s transportation assets. The National Law Review
MA: Maryland lawmakers consider public-private partnerships. A Maryland Senate panel is moving along a measure that would allow public-private partnerships, which give private companies power over roads, schools and public transit in exchange for less upfront taxpayer investment. Washington Business Journal (blog)
PA: Liquor privatization bill could face stiff test in Pa. Senate. State Sen. Sean Wiley, of Millcreek Township, D-49th Dist., has his doubts that the Senate will adopt privatization, saying that he and 25 other Democratic and Republican senators are co-sponsoring a bill to modernize — not privatize — the system. GoErie.com
IL: School-closings controversy needs some reality checks. But while we’re at it, let’s also pretend that the charter and school-privatization movement isn’t contributing to the struggles of conventional public schools. Chicago Tribune
LA: La. Gov. Jindal’s health secretary resigns as probes continue into Medicaid contract. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s health secretary and close ally, Bruce Greenstein, is resigning amid ongoing state and federal investigations into the awarding of a Medicaid contract to a company where Greenstein once worked, officials said Friday….Greenstein’s resignation leaves Jindal without the chief defender of his opposition to the Medicaid expansion under the federal health care law, as state lawmakers are pushing against the rejection. It also removes from ongoing negotiations the architect of the Jindal administration’s efforts to privatize the LSU-run public hospitals that care for the poor and uninsured and that train many of Louisiana’s medical students. Washington Post
OK: Oklahoma: Lottery proposal passes House committee. The bill proposes to look at privatizing the Oklahoma Lottery among, although initially it merely calls for an analysis of the proposal, the report said. Casino City Times