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The recent controversy and concerns about Iowa’s April 1 switch to hire private companies to manage the state’s Medicaid program has captured President Barack Obama’s attention. Deb McMahon, of Des Moines, recently wrote to the president about the matter through the White House website, explaining the situation with her disabled daughter, Annie. ... A letter dated April 18 with the presidential mark arrived in McMahon’s mailbox April 29. The letter was specific and not a form letter. It was signed by Obama. “You’re right that voices like yours and your daughter’s count – they help inform everything I do, and your message will remain on my mind,” Obama wrote in the letter. (Clayworth, 5/2)

Gov. Terry Branstad said he will carefully consider an agreement hammered out by Iowa legislators late last week that creates enhanced oversight of the state’s Medicaid program. The deal, which is included as part of a $1.8 billion budget bill, has been a priority for Democrats and is subject to the governor’s line item veto. (Pfannenstiel, 5/2)

An additional 15,000 children and pregnant women grappling with Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis should become eligible for government health insurance starting next week, once the funding receives final legislative approval, Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday. The expanded health coverage will apply to people under 21 who used Flint's water system from April 2014, when the city switched its water source, until the time it is deemed safe again. It also will cover women who were pregnant or become pregnant between early March and the safety declaration. They would remain eligible until age 21 or, if pregnant, until two months after their child is born. (Eggert, 5/2)

Alaska Senate Majority Leader John Coghill said Monday he has recommended that lawmakers drop their lawsuit challenging Gov. Bill Walker's authority to expand Medicaid on his own. Coghill, R-North Pole, said the issue has gotten wrapped up in the politics surrounding Medicaid expansion and adds to an already contentious situation as lawmakers try to reach agreements on the budget and other matters to end the extended legislative session. Coghill said he thinks pursuing the case is the right thing to do, but he also believes that support for doing so has dissipated. (Bohrer, 5/2)

A Miami federal judge agreed Friday to schedule a June 28 hearing to formally bless a settlement in a massive class-action lawsuit over children’s Medicaid services in Florida. (Ash, 5/1)