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Gov. Robert Bentley says he is exploring the idea of a state-created program that uses Medicaid expansion dollars to bring health care coverage to previously uninsured people living at or slightly above the poverty line. He emphasized Thursday his administration is only in the early stages of looking at a state-designed program. Bentley said he is also uncertain if the federal government would approve the work requirements he wants for recipients. (12/18)

Gov. Robert Bentley, who campaigned as an opponent of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, now says his administration might seek a block grant for expansion. The governor said he hasn't changed his position, saying he first began talking about that in 2010. "A block grant has no strings attached," the governor said. "They give you the money and allow you as a state to design a program." (Cason, 12/18)

Members of the Wyoming legislature will debate a measure to expand Medicaid during next year’s session — but it won’t be the proposal laid out by Gov. Matt Mead (R). The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee this week voted to endorse a measure that would model a Medicaid program on a version in Indiana, which requires newly eligible recipients to pay into a fund similar to a health savings account. (Wilson, 12/18)

Elisa Abolafia leaned her cane against the railing in front of City Hall and gingerly stepped to the lectern. The 60-year-old former private investigator suffers from severe scoliosis and four ruptured discs. Looking for work and too young for Medicare, Abolafia said she recently found out she is in the so-called Medicaid coverage gap, so she pays out-of-pocket for a patchwork of medical care. On Thursday, she stood beside Mayor Rick Kriseman and City Council member Darden Rice and pleaded with the state Legislature to accept federal dollars to expand the Medicaid program in Florida. ... Kriseman and Rice have joined a chorus of local officials pressuring lawmakers to accept $50 billion over 10 years offered by the federal Affordable Care Act. (Marrero, 12/18)