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A widely anticipated plan to reduce the number of Georgians without health coverage, unveiled Wednesday, takes a unique, conservative approach to Medicaid expansion. The plan, created by a health care task force, contains three proposals with differing eligibility standards and designs. The group’s leaders said Wednesday that they hope the options will serve as a kick start for discussion this fall and into next year’s General Assembly session. Included in the blueprint is an array of features that may please many Republican legislators, who are clearly the target of the task force effort. (Miller, 8/31)

None of the three plans suggest adopting conventional Medicaid expansion as called for under the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." States that have taken this route simply expanded eligibility for Medicaid, the federal health program for the poor and disabled, to all individuals whose income falls at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $16,000. Rather, all three proposals outlined by the Georgia [Chamber of Commerce’s] task force call on lawmakers to seek a 1115 Waiver, which other Republican-majority states have used to cover the same low-income population, but on their own terms. (Eloy, 8/31)

One of the chamber's options extends Medicaid to adults without children and who are making less than the federal poverty level, $11,700. That proposal wouldn't cover people making up to 138 percent of the poverty level, a key benchmark for federal officials when evaluating other waivers. The other options include coverage for adults making 138 percent of the poverty level, totaling $16,242 annually. In one plan, everyone is covered by Medicaid. The other option requires those making more than the poverty level to find private insurance coverage through marketplaces created by the health care law rather than being covered by Medicaid. (Foody, 8/31)

Gov. Nathan Deal has long opposed accepting more federal funds to expand Medicaid, saying it will be too costly in the long run. But a growing number of Republicans say it is past time for Georgia to begin accepting tens of billions in federal money to expand coverage to more than 600,000 low-income residents and shore up the struggling network of rural hospitals. Just how to do that promises to be a main theme of next year’s legislative session. (Bluestein, 8/31)

Costs for Alaska's expanded Medicaid program have exceeded first-year estimates by roughly $30 million so far, leaving some concerned about the impact the program may have on the state budget once the federal government stops covering the entire tab. Gov. Bill Walker expanded Medicaid to provide coverage to thousands more lower-income Alaskans. Enrollment began last September, and as of July 31, nearly 20,400 people had signed up. The federal government is expected to fully cover the health care expenses for the expansion enrollees through December; then, the state will start chipping in. The state share next year is expected to be 5 percent and grow to as much as 10 percent by 2020. (Bohrer, 8/31)