Alabama Lawmakers Begin Special Session To Consider A Lottery To Help Fund Medicaid
If the legislature approves the measure, it would go before voters in the fall. In other Medicaid news, North Carolina begins a waitlist for coverage for some "medically fragile" children, and a Republican candidate for governor in New Hampshire sees problems with expanding the program.
Montgomery Advertiser:
Bentley Hopeful As Special Session On Lottery Begins
Hours before the Legislature began a likely contentious debate over a state lottery, Gov. Robert Bentley said Monday he was “cautiously optimistic” the Legislature would put an amendment before voters this fall. The governor stressed in a press conference at the Alabama State Capitol that the lottery would provide needed funds for the state’s Medicaid program, which covers over 1 million Alabamians, the majority under age 17. ... Bentley called the Legislature into special session Monday to consider a lottery and distribution of BP settlement money. Legislators gave the passage of a lottery mixed odds last week, due to disputes over its distribution and moral objections from some legislators. (Lyman, 8/15)
AL.com:
Alabama Lottery Bills Set For Hearings On Tuesday
Gov. Robert Bentley's lottery proposal, as well as competing plans, are scheduled for consideration on Tuesday in an Alabama Senate committee. The Tourism and Marketing Committee will consider the bills by Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, and others. ... If approved by the committee, the bills could be on the Senate floor for consideration as early as Wednesday. All lottery bills are constitutional amendments, which require approval by three-fifths of senators and representatives in order to go on the ballot for voters. For a proposal to be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election, it would have to pass the Legislature by Aug. 24. (Cason, 8/15)
Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer:
NC Puts ‘Medically Fragile’ Children On Waitlist For Special Medicaid Program
The state on Monday stopped adding more children to a Medicaid program that pays for in-home nursing care and other benefits. The program is called Community Alternatives Program for Children, or the CAP/C waiver, which offers care to “medically fragile” children who need feeding tubes, use ventilators or who cannot learn basic activities such as dressing or bathing. CAP/C is called a waiver program because families do not have to meet the usual poverty-level income guidelines to qualify. The program pays for some services that regular Medicaid does not. The state’s federal waiver expired in June 2015 but the state was granted extensions to be able to keep paying for services. (Bonner, 8/15)
New Hampshire Union Leader:
NH Gubernatorial Candidate Edelblut Says NH Expansion Of Medicaid Locks Some Into Poverty
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Frank Edelblut contends Medicaid expansion is deterring able-bodied adults from getting a job and locking some Granite Staters into a cycle of poverty. Edelblut said New Hampshire should embrace a more traditional model of the program for helping the very poor and sick with medical costs. ... The first-term state representative from Wilton has sought to leverage the issue to make the case for his conservative credentials in a busy GOP primary. It comes as Democrats in the state celebrated the two-year anniversary of coverage beginning under Medicaid expansion, known officially as the New Hampshire Health Protection Program. (Tuohy, 8/15)
