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Louisiana leaders say that hundreds of residents newly added to the state's Medicaid rolls have received potentially life-saving treatment since the health care program was expanded earlier this year. Twenty-four women are getting breast cancer treatment after positive screenings, 160 adults have been diagnosed with diabetes and are receiving treatment and more than 100 patients had polyps removed after they were found during colonoscopies. ... More than 305,000 adults have been been added to Medicaid since the state expanded eligibility for the health care program in July. (Crisp, 9/19)

Two and half months after Medicaid expansion came to Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration is touting figures that show people are taking advantage of broader access to health care. ... Louisiana is the first state in the Deep South to implement Medicaid expansion, but the 31st state in the nation to adopt the program. (O'Donoghue, 9/19)

Colorado’s Medicaid department was slapped with a federal class-action lawsuit Monday led by a Denver man denied treatment for the life-threatening hepatitis C virus because he has government insurance. ... Colorado covers the 12-week, $40,000 prescription only for people whose livers have reached stage two in scarring, on a scale of zero to four. (Brown, 9/19)

Four losing bidders have protested the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' award last month of three-year contracts to manage long-term care for Medicaid beneficiaries, the agency said Monday. Pennsylvania's Community HealthChoices represents a major overhaul of how the state pays for  nursing home stays, home care, and other supports for the elderly and the physically disabled older than 21. The affected population totals about 420,000, including 120,000 to 130,000 seniors. (Brubaker, 9/19)