Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Louisiana May Be First Deep South State To Expand Medicaid, But Other Health Issues Loom
Louisiana is the 31st state—and the first in the Deep South—to extend Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act to adults with incomes up to 138% of poverty. The expansion, fully supported by the federal government through this year, will be partly paid for in future years by fees levied on Louisiana hospitals, estimated at $27 million in the first year and $120 million by year five. ... Enacting the expansion may have been the easy part. Now Louisiana policymakers, providers and health plans face major challenges in redesigning a largely out-of-date healthcare delivery system that still relies heavily on fee-for-service payment, and in improving health behaviors in one of the nation's poorest and sickest states. (Meyer, 6/18)
Just as new research highlights the economic advantages of expanding Medicaid, medical organizations have entered the fight for expansion, arguing that, for many, it could be a matter of life and death. Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, recently sent letters to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and Sen. Stephen D. Newman, R-Lynchburg, the president pro tem of his chamber. In the letters, Hansen offers to help identify a way in which Virginia can become the 32nd state in the U.S. to accept federal funds and expand coverage to uninsured Virginians, an effort that has been thwarted by the General Assembly. (Demeria, 6/19)
A race is on to court legislators in the "maybe" column on Medicaid expansion. Gov. Dennis Daugaard's office needs to convince 54 legislators — 36 in the House and 18 in the Senate — to back his plan to expand the health insurance program to cover an additional 50,000 needy South Dakotans. It won't be easy. (Ferguson, 6/18)
