For People Covered By Medicaid Expansion, Health Law Debate In Washington Hits Home
Many people who gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid are fearful about suddenly losing that coverage. In other news, the National Association of Medicaid Directors makes clear that its opposition to a Republican plan to replace the ACA was issued as a consensus view of the board and not a unanimous decision by individual state directors, and The New York Times examines how a change in Medicaid compares to efforts to revamp welfare a generation ago.
The Associated Press:
As Health Bill Teeters, Medicaid Recipients Watch Nervously
With the latest Republican health care overhaul teetering near collapse, one group in particular is watching with heightened anxiety. The debate in Congress is personal for many of those who gained coverage through Medicaid in the 31 states that expanded the program under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. (Cassidy and Mulvihill, 9/26)
Georgia Health News:
Group Of State Medicaid Chiefs Clarifies Stand Against GOP Bill
The National Association of Medicaid Directors emphasized Monday that its attention-getting opposition to the Graham-Cassidy health reform legislation was a consensus view of the board, and not a unanimous decision by all Medicaid directors. ... The statement by the Medicaid directors did not go before the full membership for a vote, said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medical Directors (NAMD). (Miller, 9/25)
The New York Times:
G.O.P. Points To Welfare Overhaul As A Model For Health Care. The Comparison Has Limits.
As they propose to give each state a wad of federal cash to replace the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance, Senate Republicans have a ready comparison to press their case: the overhaul of welfare adopted two decades ago. But the authors of the Senate’s latest bill to repeal President Barack Obama’s health law face one glaring flaw with the analogy: Few people would applaud a dramatic plunge in health insurance coverage the way they cheered the steep declines of the welfare rolls after the 1996 welfare law went into force. (Pear, 9/25)
