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A coalition of health advocacy groups has blasted Gov. Matt Bevin's plan to restructure the state Medicaid plan "as a giant step backward for Kentucky." "This plan threatens to undermine the health and economic gains we have made in the past two years," said the written comments filed last week by Kentucky Voices for Health, a coalition of about 200 groups and individuals. ... Sylvia Burwell, U.S. secretary of health and human services, raised concerns about Bevin's plans for Medicaid expansion, citing the "historic improvements" in health coverage for Kentuckians. She also questioned Bevin's plans for dismantling kynect, the state health insurance exchange where people may shop for private plans or enroll in Medicaid. (Yetter, 7/26)

Anxiety and suspense are building in Kentucky as a potential clash over the state’s high-achieving Medicaid expansion nears next month between Gov. Matt Bevin and the Obama administration. At issue is whether to make the poor pay and work to obtain health insurance under the federal-state program. (Galewitz, 7/27)

Advocates for expanding Medicaid are saying the stakes have never been higher, especially in Hillsborough County. The county’s share of federal and state dollars for hospitals that treat large numbers of low-income patients was cut by two-thirds in 2015 to 52 million dollars. (Ochoa, 7/26)