Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP Election Gains Could Threaten Medicaid Expansion Momentum
Politico: Medicaid Expansion May Contract
Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is under renewed assault in the states even as the health law faces threats in Washington from the Supreme Court and a Republican Congress. A handful of Republican governors said that after the November elections, they’d be open to taking billions of federal dollars to cover millions of their low-income residents under the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion. Instead, Medicaid faces possible retrenchment after a Republican tide swept emboldened Obamacare foes into every level of government. (Wheaton, 1/14)
Meanwhile, in news from Florida -
The Miami Herald: Florida Chamber Supports 'Alternative Plan' For Medicaid Expansion
Another influential business group wants to see Florida lawmakers accept federal dollars to help extend healthcare coverage to uninsured Floridians. In a report issued Tuesday, the the Florida Chamber of Chamber said it opposes "the traditional expansion of Medicaid." But the group would be willing to support a plan to use the federal funds that "embraces private solutions with flexible steps to eliminate the $1.4 billion cost shift on Florida families and caps Florida's Medicaid budget at 32 percent." (McGrory, 1/13)
