States and Medicaid Expansion

Posted on February 21, 2014 by admin

• House and Senate in Virginia at loggerheads over Medicaid expansion, By Michael Laris and Laura Vozzella, February 20, 2014, Washington Post: “Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject Medicaid expansion, signaling in the strongest terms yet that the chamber does not intend to budge on the marquee issue of this year’s legislative session. With the 67 to 32 vote, an impasse is seen as all but inevitable with the state Senate, where Democrats and moderate Republicans have joined to support expanding Medicaid as allowed under the Affordable Care Act. Both houses passed their respective budget proposals Thursday, so the measure — and all other budget differences between the two chambers — will be taken up in negotiations next week…”
• W.Va. a leader in Medicaid expansion enrollment, By Lydia Nuzum, February 20, 2014, Charleston Gazette: “West Virginia has exceeded expectations in an area nearly half of states have yet to take up the challenge — expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 87,000 residents –70 percent of the roughly 130,000 eligible in the state — have enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program, officials say. Jeremiah Samples, assistant secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, and representatives from Kentucky, Oregon and Washington presented their strategies for enrolling eligible citizens in Medicaid during a conference call sponsored by Families USA, the largest national organization representing health-care consumers…”
• ‘Gap’ in coverage leaves some without health insurance, By Yamil Berard, February 17, 2014, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Linda Berman was forced to file for personal bankruptcy in 2012 after a four-day stay in the hospital left her with thousands of dollars in hospital bills. So the 63-year-old Lake Dallas resident, who is diabetic and has been without health insurance since 2009, hoped she could find affordable insurance once the federal health exchanges opened under the Affordable Care Act. But she says it’s still too expensive.  Berman, a self-employed performer who uses bubbles to educate children about math and science at area libraries, learned that she is one of millions of Americans who have fallen into a new unintended coverage gap created by the healthcare law and by Texas leaders’ decision not to expand Medicaid…”