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Democrats plan to renew efforts next year to expand Medicaid eligibility in South Carolina, saying that's the most important way to continue the work of their slain colleague, Sen. Clementa Pinckney. It will be a tough sell in a state where Republican opposition hasn't budged since a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld the federal health care law but made its intended Medicaid expansion an option. But Democrats hope the Legislature's decision to remove the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds — a move long thought impossible — indicates opinions can change. (Adcox, 7/25)

Gov. Sam Brownback said Friday he’s unconvinced Medicaid expansion is an answer to the financial woes of rural Kansas hospitals and suggested they should innovate instead. During a news conference Friday, Brownback was asked about a Reuters story on the improving financial fortunes of public hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act versus the stagnation of hospitals in states that did not. The governor said he had seen another report recently that “went the other way.” (Marso, 7/24)