Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Calif. Lawmaker Proposes Medicaid Cover Undocumented Immigrants
The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Propose Health Coverage For Immigrants
California, flush with cash from an expanding economy, would eventually spend $1 billion a year to provide health care to immigrants living in the state illegally under a proposal announced Wednesday by Democratic lawmakers. The proposal would eliminate legal residency requirements in California's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, as the state has already done for young people up to age 19. (Cooper, 12/14)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Medicaid Contracts Approved After Weeks Of Delays
Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget approved $15.4 billion worth of Medicaid contracts Thursday (Dec. 14) after weeks of delays due to a power struggle between the House GOP leadership and Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. The five contracts control the delivery of health care for 1.6 million people in Louisiana. (O'Donoghue, 12/14)
The Associated Press: Lawmakers Approve $15B In Medicaid Contracts
Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, the House Republican who led the original opposition, says the addition of language explicitly giving the legislative auditor oversight of the deals made lawmakers "feel better" about the contracts. The extensions will keep in place five companies that manage care for 1.5 million Louisiana Medicaid patients. The current contracts were set to expire Jan. 31. (12/14)
MTN News: Medicaid Expansion: Can Montana Afford It, Going Forward?
Opponents of the expansion ... question whether Montana can afford its share of the huge new program, going forward. “I don’t think we can tax our way out of this,” says Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, who voted against the 2015 expansion bill. “I mean, we’d have to raise taxes significantly to be able to keep up with this growth in Medicaid expansion, and our other budgetary pressures.” Hertz estimates that Medicaid expansion will cost the state $200 million for the 2020-2021 budget period, at its current size – which is twice as big as initially predicted by the Bullock administration. (Dennison, 12/14)
The CT Mirror: Legislature Headed For A Holiday Session To Fix Social Services Program
With partisan feuding providing the final push Thursday, the state legislature now will come into session between ... Christmas and New Year’s Day to reverse an unpopular cut to a social services program for poor seniors and the disabled. The Senate Democratic Caucus submitted the final signatures needed Thursday to force a special session between Dec. 24 and Dec. 29 to restore funds to the Medicare Savings Program, which uses Medicaid funds to help pay medical expenses that Medicare doesn’t cover. (Phaneuf, 12/14)
Hartford (Conn.) Courant: Post-Christmas Session Will Restore Medicaid Cuts
The state legislature will hold a special session after Christmas to restore $54 million in cuts to a popular medical program that could affect more than 100,000 people, the highest-ranking senator announced Thursday. Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney of New Haven said lawmakers had reached a bipartisan agreement to restore the money in the Medicare Savings Program. The exact date of the session has not been set, but it would be between Dec. 26 and 29, he said. (Keating, 12/14)
