States and Medicaid Expansion

Posted on January 25, 2013 by townsend

• Texas deal on Medicaid expansion sought, By Chris Tomlinson (AP), January 24, 2013, Houston Chronicle: “The Affordable Care Act is the federal law that Texas Republicans love to hate, but one top lawmaker says expanding health care for the working poor could happen if federal authorities are willing to strike a deal. Republican Sen. Jane Nelson, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, said she hopes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will allow Texas to receive $27 billion to expand Medicaid. But she said the key is to allow lawmakers to develop a Texas-specific program that will not blow the state’s budget…”
• New bill would expand Nebraska’s Medicaid program, By Martha Stoddard, January 23, 2013, Omaha World-Herald: “Savings produced by the federal health care law could more than pay for extending Medicaid to thousands of low-income Nebraskans, according to a key lawmaker. State Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha released an analysis of potential costs and savings for the expansion Wednesday. He did so as a group of state lawmakers introduced a bill to expand Medicaid coverage as allowed under the federal health care overhaul…”
• Snyder eyes mental health makeover, By Alanna Durkin (AP), January 25, 2013, Escanaba Daily Press: “Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to fill the gaps of Michigan’s mental health care system might lie in his ability to convince lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to expand Medicaid to provide 500,000 Michigan residents with coverage under the federal Affordable Health Care Act. Snyder, a Republican, told the Associated Press Wednesday that it would ‘actually expand mental health coverage significantly’ and that it is ‘one of the factors’ he is ‘taking into account.’ Snyder said he will ‘make that call’ during his budget presentation Feb. 7…”
• Democrats pressing Corbett to expand Medicaid, By Harold Brubaker, January 25, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “In a bid to build pressure on Gov. Corbett to expand Medicaid next year, Democratic members of the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee met Thursday in Philadelphia with city health officials, hospital experts, and advocates for the poor. The session in City Hall came less than two weeks before Corbett is to present his budget proposal for fiscal 2014. Were he to opt for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, provisions for the rollout starting in October would have to be built into that budget, officials said…”