An Unlikely Coalition Of Conservatives Comes Together To Urge North Carolina To Expand Medicaid
A group of business leaders, law enforcement and county officials, all of whom identified themselves as conservative or Republican, say the state has been missing out on an opportunity to help people. While elsewhere red states are starting to be won over to the promises of expansion, in North Carolina opposition remains. Medicaid news comes out of Florida and Kansas as well.
North Carolina Health News:
Legislative Mini-Session Produces Little Movement On Health Care Issues, Despite New Call For Medicaid Expansion
By the time he reached Raleigh after six hours of driving, Dale Wiggins was angry that the lawmakers he was coming to see had already skipped town. Wiggins, the chair of the Graham County Board of Commissioners, came to Raleigh Tuesday to speak to legislators about enacting Medicaid expansion. But by the time he and several other officials from their rural far western county made it to the capitol, lawmakers who had come to the General Assembly for a “mini-session” had wrapped up their work after only a few hours, and left. They won’t be back until late April. That frustrated Wiggins, a Republican, who wanted to tell his party leaders about the needs of his constituents in a county where wages are low and rates of uninsurance are high. (Hoban, 1/16)
Miami Herald:
Florida’s Medicaid Changes Worry People With Disabilities
Florida lawmakers are proposing changes to a Medicaid program for people with disabilities this year that would contract out some of its functions and support services, the latest in a years-long effort to restrain state spending on some of its most vulnerable Floridians. Advocates for people in the program say they fear the move could hurt the care they receive and add bureaucratic red tape to an already convoluted process. (Koh, 1/15)
Health News Florida:
Lawmakers Consider Continuing Controversial Medicaid Change
Florida legislators this year will weigh whether to continue a controversial policy that limits the length of time people have to apply for the Medicaid program. But lawmakers will have to decide without financial data that the Legislature last year directed the state Agency for Health Care Administration to collect. And that worries some senators. (Sexton, 1/15)
Kansas City Star:
Parson Pledges To Combat Violent Crime, Blasts Medicaid Expansion
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson affirmed the need to combat violent crime in his annual address before state lawmakers Wednesday, but only after stressing his Second Amendment bona fides, including his lifelong membership in the National Rifle Association. The speech, which focused mainly on the state’s economy, laid out his legislative agenda to lawmakers, but also reflected how he most likely will appeal to voters as he seeks a full-term as governor in November. (Thomas, 1/15)
