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An Ohio group wants a federal judge to block state officials from ending the Medicaid health coverage of tens of thousands of low-income residents. The request comes as the state's Medicaid agency works to "re-determine" eligibility for recipients of the federal-state program, as required by the federal government. (Sanner, 3/31)

The Legal Aid Society of Columbus has asked a federal judge to stop state officials from terminating health-care benefits to tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients. In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Columbus, attorneys argue that removing beneficiaries from the rolls violates federal and state law because they were given no reason for termination nor told of their right to appeal. (Candisky, 3/31)

Missouri's Republican-controlled Senate has advanced a bill to expand eligibility for persons with disabilities to receive Medicaid. Senators advanced the bill in a voice vote Tuesday and will vote a second time before it moves to the House. Currently single Missourians can't have more than $1,000 in assets to qualify for the federal and state health care program, with married couples capped at $2,000. (4/1)

During the past decade, Vermont has spent $675 million setting up Medicaid managed-care programs but has done such a spotty job monitoring them that they can't even be audited. That's the upshot from a letter state Auditor of Accounts Douglas Hoffer sent to lawmakers last week. It followed up on an internal report in January by the Agency of Human Services detailing gaps in answers to this question: Have the state and federal governments — and taxpayers — been getting their two-thirds of a billion dollars' worth? (Gram, 3/31)