States and Medicaid Expansion

Posted on June 10, 2013 by admin

• Politics complicates TennCare discussion, By Chas Sisk, June 10, 2013, The Tennessean: “Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration is nearing a decision on whether to push for an expansion of TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, but questions remain about how the plan would be structured and whether it could win approval from state and federal officials. After more than two months of discussions with federal officials over a proposal to buy private insurance for the poor, Haslam expects to know by the end of the summer whether to recommend that Tennessee join the 29 states that already have committed to expanding their Medicaid programs…”
• Medicaid expansion gets hearing in House, By Mary K. Reinhart, June 10, 2013, Arizona Republic: “Facing a looming budget deadline and a bitterly divided Republican caucus, the state House today takes up Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to expand Medicaid along with a controversial abortion bill some say is designed to kill the governor’s top legislative priority. The House Appropriations Committee will hold what is expected to be a contentious hearing on the two bills, likely ending with the defeat of Senate Bill 1492, which outlines Brewer’s plan to broaden Medicaid eligibility under the federal health-care overhaul…”
• Push for Medicaid expansion continues beyond session, By Elizabeth Crisp, June 10, 2013, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Missouri’s Republican-controlled Legislature eschewed Medicaid expansion this session, but supporters are holding out hope for next year. ‘We all know that we need to expand Medicaid. Everyone knows that,’ said Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat. ‘This will save many lives, and I am optimistic that the right thing will be done.’ Republican legislative leaders have taken recent actions that appear to hint toward movement on the issue in the coming months. They also have expressed optimism over the potential to reform the health care program for the poor, using the expansion as a launch pad…”
• Medicaid expansion unlikely to be in budget, but it’s far from dead, By Robert Higgs, June 9, 2013, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “More and more, the chances that an expansion of Ohio’s Medicaid program will appear in the state budget appear to be less and less. But the debate is far from over. While they hedge that there are no guarantees, legislators, lobbyists and the administration, continue to talk with optimism that something will be done to provide health coverage for the working poor…”