Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Panels In Florida, Tenn. Move Medicaid Expansion Bills
A third panel approved the Senate's proposed alternative to Medicaid expansion and now the measure is headed to a floor vote. But things got dicey Wednesday when the Senate Appropriations Committee discussed SB 7044. As Health Policy Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, walked his colleagues through the proposal, several senators became engaged in intense side conversations. The discussions grew so large that the committee went into an impromptu recess. Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, later explained that some members had expressed concerns because the plan would temporarily put some beneficiaries into Medicaid Managed Care plans until the state creates a new private health insurance marketplace. (McGrory, 3/25)
A revived version of Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to extend health coverage to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans on Wednesday cleared its first full Senate committee. (Schelzig, 3/26)
Meanwhile, Connecticut officials are seeking a change in federal reimbursement on the Medicaid expansion.
A $45 million hole in this year鈥檚 budget is the result of a disagreement between state and federal officials over how much the federal government should reimburse Connecticut for Medicaid spending for clients who became eligible under Obamacare. ... Connecticut was the first state in the country to expand Medicaid as part of the health law, beginning the coverage expansion in 2010. The federal reimbursement rate for their care rose from 50 percent to 100 percent as of Jan. 1, 2014. But what if one of those clients went to the hospital in 2013, but the state didn鈥檛 pay the bill until 2014? (Levin Becker, 3/25)
