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Gov. John Bel Edwards debuted a new website and name for Louisiana's Medicaid program on Monday (May 2), saying "Healthy Louisiana" will replace Bayou Health as a program aimed at making people across Louisiana healthier. The new name is expected to be printed on all new materials being distributed as part of Medicaid expansion, Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Rebekah Gee said Healthy Louisiana will only be printed on new materials. That means no cost to the state for the new moniker, though the managed care organizations that run Bayou Health have expressed concern about the costs on their side. (Litten, 5/2)

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday made back-to-back appearances in Baton Rouge to appeal to supporters and community leaders on two of the key issues he’s facing — the state budget shortfall and expansion of the Medicaid health care program. The effort to plug a $600 million gap in the state budget that begins July 1 and the looming launch of looser qualifications for Medicaid, which Edwards has hailed as a way to save the state millions of dollars while providing health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of residents, present two of the biggest tests for the Democratic governor’s administration in the next three months. (Crisp, 5/2)