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A Republican state senator said Thursday that he believes the General Assembly will hold hearings this year on the idea of Medicaid expansion in Georgia. “I think there’s a number of Republican [legislators] who are looking for a solution,’’ said Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome), after speaking on a legislative panel at an event sponsored by the consumer group Georgians for a Healthy Future. ... Another state senator and panel member, Dr. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge), told the Atlanta audience Thursday that the chances of expansion occurring in Georgia have increased. (Miller, 1/15)

Under the Affordable Care Act, millions of low-income adults last year became eligible for Medicaid and subsidized health insurance for the first time. Now states face a huge challenge: how to deal with an onslaught of able-bodied, 18- to 64-year olds who haven’t seen a doctor in years. ... Until now, the vast majority of Medicaid beneficiaries were pregnant women, young children, and disabled and elderly adults. Relatively few able-bodied adults without children qualified, so states did not set up their Medicaid programs to treat them. (Vestal, 1/15)

Florida is at risk of losing about $1.3 billion in federal funds used to reimburse hospitals that treat large numbers of poor and uninsured patients — including Miami-Dade’s Jackson Health System — jeopardizing the medical centers’ ability to continue serving those populations, according to a report released Thursday by state healthcare officials. The 244-page report was required by federal regulators who wanted Florida healthcare officials to explain how the state will ensure that hospitals can continue treating patients with Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor and disabled, without relying on a special pot of supplemental money known as the Low Income Pool or LIP program. (Chang, 1/15)