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The newest plan, the product of House Speaker Beth Harwell’s 3-Star Healthy Task Force, prioritizes veterans and those with mental health needs. However, in order to be enacted, it needs both federal approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state approval from the legislature. (Tolbert, 7/17)

Nearly 500,000 low-income Ohio adults, most of them uninsured, received mental health and addiction services under the state’s hard-fought Medicaid expansion. About 100,000 of the new beneficiaries have severe mental illnesses, including psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. And many of the rest are battling drug addiction. (Candisky and Johnson, 7/17)

Backers of Montana’s seven-month-old Medicaid expansion say they’re pleased with the first set of financial data released this week. State figures say enrollment as of July is nearly double initial projections, at 47,399 of the 25,000 who were expected to enroll by now. And there’s still room to grow: 59,000 Montanans are estimated to be eligible for Medicaid expansion, according to state officials. (Whitney, 7/18)