Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Advocates In Maine File Petitions To Put Medicaid Expansion Referendum On Ballot
The Associated Press: Health Care Advocates Want Medicaid Expansion On Ballot
Health care advocates in Maine say they have more than enough signatures to get a referendum to expand Medicaid coverage on the November ballot. Now it's up to the Secretary of State's office to verify the signatures. The Mainers for Health Care campaign said Wednesday the additional federal funding would cover tens of thousands of state residents who can't afford health insurance but have been denied coverage through Medicaid. (1/25)
WLBZ2 (Bangor, Maine): Petitions Filed For Referendum On Medicaid Expansion
After trying five times to pass a major expansion of Maine's Medicaid health insurance program through the Legislature, advocates have decided to go straight to the voters. Supporters of Medicaid expansion on Wednesday submitted 67,700 petition signatures to the Secretary of State, to force a statewide referendum vote. The Medicaid expansion battle has been fought repeatedly in the State House over the past four years. On five occasions expansion actually passed the Legislature, but there were never enough votes to overcome a veto by the Governor, and the measures failed. (Carrigan, 1/25)
Atlanta Journal Constitution: 'Provider Fee' To Close Georgia's Medicaid Funding Gap Filed In Senate
Gov. Nathan Deal’s push to renew a fee on Georgia hospitals aimed at closing a more than $900 million gap in Medicaid funding took a step forward Wednesday, when one of the governor’s floor leaders filed legislation to extend it another three years. Senate Bill 70, sponsored by state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, would reauthorize collection of what’s officially known as a hospital provider fee until 2020. It is set to be introduced in the chamber on Thursday. (Torres, 1/25)
Bloomberg: What Obamacare Repeal Could Mean For Medicaid
Repealing the Affordable Care Act, as President Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress promise to do, would have major implications for Medicaid, the government’s health-care program for the poor. Obamacare, as the ACA is known, expanded Medicaid as a way to provide insurance to millions of previously uncovered Americans. Congressional leaders have targeted that expansion. Trump promised not to cut Medicaid, but he proposes restructuring its funding in a way that could do just that. (Greifeld, 1/26)
