Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Arkansas Votes To Shift More People Off Medicaid, Enact Work Requirements
The Associated Press: Arkansas Lawmakers Vote To Scale Back Hybrid Medicaid Plan
Arkansas lawmakers voted Wednesday to scale back the state's first-in-the-nation hybrid Medicaid expansion under a plan that would move 60,000 people off the program and require some remaining participants to work. The changes are part of an effort in Republican-leaning Arkansas to take advantage of President Donald Trump's willingness to give states more flexibility in restricting coverage. Arkansas is pursuing the changes despite GOP efforts in Washington to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which enabled the state's program. (5/3)
Kansas City Star: Medicaid Proposal’s Path Through Missouri Legislature Is A Warning Sign
Missouri stands on the brink of prematurely privatizing management of Medicaid for 240,000 low-income adults and children to three for-profit companies to the detriment of very vulnerable patients. It does so through a process that was highly irregular. As is often true in the capital, a member of a key legislator’s staff is now employed by the companies that stand to profit from policies advocated by that legislator. (Schaaf and Mott Oxford, 5/3)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: House Clerk Refuses To Recognize Two Gov. Terry McAuliffe Vetoes
The war of words escalated Wednesday over two of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's budget vetoes that House Clerk G. Paul Nardo has refused to recognize. Nardo, who serves as Keeper of the Rolls, told McAuliffe that he is "duty-bound not to publish" the governor's veto of budget items that prevent the expansion of Virginia's Medicaid program without General Assembly approval and expand a prohibition on mandatory labor agreements to public-private transportation projects. (Martz, 5/3)
The Washington Post: Virginia’s Expansion Of Disability Services Leaves Fairfax County Short Of Funds
A Virginia effort to bring government-funded services to thousands more disabled people could, paradoxically, leave those in the state’s largest jurisdiction without funding for some types of aid. Fairfax County officials say they are likely to create a new waiting list or restrict aid for day-support and work programs because of a redesign of the state’s Medicaid waiver program that — in an effort to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act — requires the county to accept several thousand people who weren’t previously eligible for government aid. (Olivo, 5/3)
