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State Medicaid agencies, under intensifying federal scrutiny as millions of people lose coverage, say they are stepping up efforts to identify who should and shouldn't be enrolled as they continue eligibility redeterminations. States have removed nearly 12 million people from Medicaid since April, when they began unwinding a pandemic-era continuous coverage policy that expired earlier this year, according to federal data compiled by Â鶹ŮÓÅ. (Bennett, 12/11)

The state Medicaid director and a hospital CEO — neither of them doctors — bucked recommendations from health care professionals and delayed a vote that could have made it easier for expecting Mississippians to receive timely prenatal care. The move comes just days after the release of a maternal mortality report that shows Mississippi is still one of the most dangerous places in the country to give birth. (Bose, 12/11)

Missouri is working to make its Medicaid program sustainable after voters approved the expansion of the government healthcare program. The 2020 campaign added roughly another 230,000 low-income adults to the program. During a state budget subcommittee hearing, Todd Richardson, Director of MO HealthNet, gave an overview on how enrollment is looking versus the expenses it takes to make the department run efficiently. Richardson, a Republican and former Missouri House speaker, said that enrollment from FY21 through the current fiscal year increased by leaps and bounds. (Morabith, 12/11)

There’s a growing crisis for some of the aging population in the nation's capital, advocates say. The News4 I-Team found some D.C. residents who need care are being sent long distances from the community they know. Hundreds of D.C. residents, some of them unhoused, are residing in Maryland nursing homes. (Wilkins, Yarborough, Jones, Piper and Olazagasti, 12/11)