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The Legislative Council is moving forward with their lawsuit to stop Medicaid expansion. In the meantime, both the legislature and the Walker administration are working with consultants to find ways to reduce the cost of the Medicaid program. (Feidt, 9/16)

Supporters of Insure Tennessee suffered another loss at the hands of the attorney general this week, and Gov. Bill Haslam potentially lost some leverage, in the ongoing debate over expanding health care coverage to low-income Tennesseans. In a new opinion, Attorney General Herbert Slatery argued Haslam can't implement any form of Medicaid expansion without lawmaker approval. (Boucher, 9/16)

Despite a transition to managed care meant to tame huge increases in Medicaid spending, the health-care program for low-income Floridians still threatens to consume almost half of the state's revenue growth, an economist told lawmakers Tuesday. Forecasters expect Medicaid to eat up 45.9 percent of the growth in the state's general revenue over the next three years, according to Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research. Baker was speaking to the Legislative Budget Commission, a group of House and Senate lawmakers who have to approve an annual three-year outlook for the state budget. (Larabee, 9/16)

An ambitious Obamacare waiver program providing states with broad discretion to redesign their health care systems beginning in 2017 is hardly living up to the hype — at least for now. The so-called 1332 waiver program was included in the law to let states pursue their own reforms after Obamacare's coverage expansions took root. The waivers have been touted both as a vehicle for blue states to pursue more progressive coverage schemes and for red states to help undo a law that Republicans say is far too prescriptive. (Pradhan, 9/16)