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A proposal that would expand health care insurance coverage for more than 100,000 Nebraskans by accessing available federal Medicaid dollars would cost the state more than an estimated $100 million a year over a 10-year period, state senators were told Tuesday. Calder Lynch, state Medicaid director for the Department of Health and Human Services, said he will testify in opposition to the legislative bill (LB1032) at its public hearing on Wednesday. At a briefing for news media representatives in conjunction with distribution of a 19-page analysis to members of the Legislature, Lynch said he believes the proposal may be "ultimately not sustainable." (Walton, 2/9)

An attempt to force a vote on Medicaid expansion in the Kansas Senate was blocked Tuesday. Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, the Senate’s most ardent opponent of Medicaid expansion, offered an amendment to expand the program in an attempt to show supporters it cannot pass in the Senate. Pilcher-Cook, the Senate Public Health and Welfare chair, said expanding the program under the Affordable Care Act would lead to higher taxes and higher health care costs. (Lowry, 2/9)