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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he remained concerned Tuesday about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan for Medicaid spending, a sticking point as negotiations over New York’s $154 billion budget inched toward a Friday deadline. In an informal, impromptu conversation with reporters at his Capitol office, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, pledged to find $250 million in Medicaid savings before completing a budget agreement with legislative leaders. (Vilensky and Orden, 3/29)

Of this, everyone in the State Capitol seems certain: New York will eventually have a budget. The question is when. ... While a deal appeared close, there was still noticeable aggravation in Democratic ranks over a plan that Mr. Cuomo unveiled in January: finding some $250 million in Medicaid savings, much of which would come from New York City, which accounts for a large chunk of Medicaid spending statewide. (McKinley and Yee, 3/29)

A state agency announced Tuesday that it is cutting reimbursement rates paid to more than 46,000 Medicaid providers by 25 percent -- an amount that the head of the Oklahoma Hospital Association said will have a "market changing" effect on health care in the state. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees Medicaid in Oklahoma, announced plans for the rate cuts to take effect in the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. The cuts come amid plunging state revenue collections and a roughly $1.3 billion hole in next year's state budget. (3/29)

The rate cut would affect more than 46,000 SoonerCare providers who deliver care to thousands of low-income Oklahomans across the state. SoonerCare, Oklahoma's Medicaid program, pays for health care services for almost 800,000 low-income Oklahomans, including 524,000 children. It is the second-largest cost in the state budget, behind education. [Oklahoma Health Care] Authority CEO Nico Gomez said he worried that, if the provider cuts are approved, many providers will stop accepting SoonerCare, and that some rural providers will move their businesses to larger communities to remain financially stable. (Cosgrove, 3/29)

Lawmakers from both parties banded together Tuesday to help Minnesotans hit by estate liens from the Department of Human Services. The department long has recouped the cost of care for elderly or disabled Minnesotans older than 55 on Medicaid by placing claims against their estates. But since 2014, these liens haven’t affected only people in nursing homes. They’ve applied to tens of thousands of otherwise healthy adults older than 55 receiving Medicaid care for routine medical expenses. (Montgomery, 3/29)