Fla. Lawmakers Return To Special Session Seeking To End Impasse On Budget, Medicaid

There are few signs of progress in reaching a compromise since the legislative session ended abruptly with Republicans in the House and Senate torn about how to handle a cut in federal Medicaid funding for hospitals and the option of expanding the state's Medicaid program. Across the country in Montana, where the legislature barely passed an expansion bill this year, officials named the panel that will oversee that program and included two prominent critics.

The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times: Discord Remains As Florida Legislature's Special Session Set To Open

For the first time in 23 years, Florida ended its regular session without a state budget, prompting legislators to reconvene - starting Monday -- to finish work. But the opening day of the three-week special session is also the official opening of the hurricane season -- and the health care debate that sidetracked the state's $80B budget debate continues to spawn political storms. (Klas, 5/30)

Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald: Feds Raise Questions About Governor's Plan For LIP Funds

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Friday said that it has not signed off on the proposal by Gov. Rick Scott to rely on local governments and safety net hospitals to drawn down money for the uninsured and raised concerns about the impact of the change on communities -- like Miami -- that provide the bulk of the funding for the low-income pool. (Klas, 5/29)

The Associated Press: 2 Opponents Named To Montana Medicaid Expansion Panel

Two of the biggest opponents of Medicaid expansion in Montana are going to be members of the panel that oversees it. Gov. Steve Bullock and legislative leaders released Friday their picks for a nine-member Medicaid expansion committee. GOP leaders picked two vociferous opponents of the measure, Bozeman Rep. Art Wittich and Bigfork Sen. Bob Keenan, to represent the conservative caucus. "We won't be sitting in the committee meetings with pom-poms," Keenan said. (Noon, 5/29)

In Minnesota, officials note a milestone -

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: In Wake Of Federal Reform, Minnesota's Medicaid Enrollment Surges To 1 Million

Minnesota’s Medicaid rolls have soared past the 1 million mark for the first time, driven by two years of explosive growth in government insurance programs in the wake of federal health reform. (Howatt, 5/31)

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