Ga. State Senator Who Once Led Fight Against Medicaid Expansion Has A Change Of Heart
Renee Unterman, who heads the Georgia Senate's health committee, said last week, "Times have changed, and we've seen the effect of the health crisis we're in." Also, federal plans for a survey of Indiana's Medicaid expansion is raising some concerns in the state.
The Associated Press:
Medicaid Expansion Remains Divisive For Georgia Republicans
Two years ago, state Sen. Renee Unterman helped lead an effort to shut down Medicaid expansion in Georgia. But now the prominent Republican wants her colleagues to reconsider years of opposition to any form of Medicaid expansion. ... Unterman's shift is the latest crack in Republican opposition to a key component of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Unterman and others argue that increasing Medicaid eligibility is the only way to quickly affect Georgia's health care system, which has seen a rash of rural hospitals shutting down or cutting services in recent years. (Foody, 6/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Ind. Sees Bias In Surveys To Assess Its Medicaid Plan
Indiana officials say the CMS is planning to use a biased survey to evaluate the state's conservative approach to Medicaid expansion. In April, the federal Office of Management and Budget approved an emergency request by the CMS to let it examine whether Indiana's conservative-friendly, alternative Medicaid expansion model known as Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, or HIP 2.0, has hurt beneficiaries' access to care. ... Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, has argued there is no need for the CMS to perform its own evaluation of his plan because the state already hired the Lewin Group, an independent consultancy, to do so. (Dickinson, 6/11)
