�鶹Ů��

A state judge said Friday that Alaska Gov. Bill Walker’s administration could expand the Medicaid health care program beginning next week, dismissing a request by the state Legislature to temporarily block enrollment while attorneys argue lawmakers’ underlying legal challenge. The ruling by Judge Frank Pfiffner was a decisive victory for the Walker administration, but it may only be temporary: By the end of the day, the Alaska Supreme Court had already received the Legislature’s request for emergency review and ordered Walker’s attorneys to respond by Monday at noon. (Herz, 8/28)

Judge Pfiffner spoke for more than 45 minutes in court, unpacking the complicated legal arguments each side presented to make its case. To win a restraining order to stop Medicaid expansion, the Legislative Council had to prove the legislature would face “irreparable harm” if the program went ahead on September 1. In denying that argument, the judge made several points, including the fact that the state won’t spend any money expanding Medicaid. (Feidt, 8/28)

To have won an injunction against Walker, Pfiffner said the Legislature's legal team would have had to prove irreparable harm to the state and a likelihood that they would win their lawsuit. Throughout the delivery of his motion, Pfiffner picked apart the Legislature's argument, calling the $450,000 lawsuit "long on argument but short on facts." (Buxton, 8/28)

Alaska’s governor won a legal victory Friday that, at least for now, will allow the state to begin next week to sign up more low-income residents for Medicaid — despite objections from state lawmakers. The dispute in Alaska has emerged as the latest political and legal skirmish over the Affordable Care Act, lingering even after the Supreme Court two months ago upheld the constitutionality of a core aspect of the law that requires most Americans to have health insurance. (Goldstein, 8/28)

In a statement, House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, said the lawmakers who supported the lawsuit "continue to feel very strongly about our constitutional argument that was presented. We are by no means looking for a way to stop Medicaid expansion; we are trying to do it the right way so that we have a reliable, sustainable system." ... Pfiffner's ruling "ensures 20,000 working Alaskans will have access to health care on September 1st," Walker said in a statement. State-commissioned estimates released earlier this year indicate that nearly 42,000 Alaskans would be eligible for coverage under expanded Medicaid the first year and about 20,000 would enroll. (Bohrer, 8/29)