Dear Colleague, Two out of three Americans are hopeful that 2023 will be a better year than 2022, according to a survey by the marketing firm, Ipsos. In a short video message in Tuesday's qAM, the first of the new year, I took a brief look back at 2022, recounting some of the success community pharmacy enjoyed over the year just past. Now, nearly a week into 2023, I want to take a look into some things to look for in 2023.
ahead on the rundown reaction from an american in japan. the nuclear disaster threat level there has the same rating as chernobyl. plus, reforming medicaid, the plan being considered by some republican governors. and your smartphone, vulnerable to would-be hackers. going to tell you how to lock down your device. well, it was the first immaj that many of us imagined when the nuclear crisis in japan began, chernobyl. the worst disaster at a nuclear power plant ever. well, today, the japanese government is officially confirming what so many of us suspected, that the fukushima nuclear plant crisis ranks just as high as chernobyl. the alert level has been raised from five to seven, the highest level possible. officials now admit that damage to the plant caused by last month s earthquake and tsunami could result in substantial and
our business news correspondent stephanie elam join us from new york. steph, tell us how it will work specifically when it comes to medicaid. right, suzanne, let s start off taking a look at medicaid and how it provides health care to 50 million poor and disabled americans. right now the federal government pays about two-thirds of the cost and the states go ahead and pick up the rest. in fiscal 2009 states shelled out about $130 billion on medicaid and received $250 billion from the federal government to cover the rest. but some house republicans, they want to change that formula, and budget chief paul ryan wants the federal government to distribute lump sum to the state instead of matching state spending. states would then be able to spend the medicaid block grants however they want. it s actually an idea that several republican governors support, and here s what mississippi s governor told a congressional committee last month about medicaid we just want to run it better. we wan
much better if and if the federal government would give us more flexibility. now, governors like haley barbour who you just heard there argue that the current medicaid system just doesn t give states enough freedom to find their own cost savings. on top of that the congressional budget office estimates it could save the federal government $180 billion over the next 10 years, suzanne. i guess the critics are coming out pretty strongly against the idea. what are the risks here? if you ask opponents they ll say it shifts too much burdens to the states and with the block grants, if the states run out of federal dollars, too bad, they ll have to make up their funds on their own, which is in pretty short supply these days as we know, it could lead some states to cut back on medicaid eligibility or benefits and cut payments to providers and that would likely drive up the number of uninsured, the bottom line is
motion the kind of orderly process that will address the health care needs of this country, harnessing the power of the free market, giving consumers more choices in health insurance. those are the ideas the president-elect talked about as a candidate. we ll keep those promises once he takes seat in the oval office. for those who can t afford health insurance and only have it because of the medicaid expansion and because of the stipends, what should they expect during the transition period? will their medicaid expansion stay there? i would anticipate that a part of what we ll do is what the president-elect has called for through the course of the campaign. and that is, while we while we take the mandate off every american that exists under obamacare, the threat of higher taxes against individuals and businesses, we re going to develop a plan to block grant medicaid back to the states so that states can do exactly what indiana was able to do in part by reforming medicaid. the stat