Kasich, A GOP Moderate Who Has Criticized Hill Efforts On Health Overhaul, Offers Olive Branch
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he could accept the phaseout of the health law's Medicaid expansion if Republicans writing the bill add more money for states and make the pull back more gradual. In other Medicaid news, a look at how states are remolding the program for low-income residents, concerns among nonprofit insurers about proposed changes to the law, and developments in Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio.
The New York Times:
John Kasich Backs Slow Medicaid Rollback, But With More Money
Ohio’s influential Republican governor, John R. Kasich, said on Monday that he could accept a gradual phaseout of the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but only if Congress provides states with more money than the House health care bill included and more flexibility to manage the health program for the poor. Mr. Kasich’s statement could prove significant as Senate Republicans try to find near unanimity on a bill to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. His position points to a compromise that moderate Senate Republicans could embrace — but that could challenge the chamber’s most conservative members. (Pear, 6/12)
Politico:
With Or Without Washington, States Are Already Remaking Medicaid
Medicaid is now the biggest health program in the country, covering more than 70 million people, or 1-in-5 Americans. Spending surpassed $545 billion in 2015. Yet Medicaid, “the other M,” is often overshadowed by Medicare. But the depth and breadth of innovation in Medicaid in states across the country under Democratic and Republican governors, deserves more attention. That’s particularly true now as the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress consider sweeping changes and deep spending cuts that would fundamentally change the program that provides health care for Americans with low income, the disabled, and millions of older Americans needing long-term services and support in nursing homes or in the community. (6/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Not-For-Profit Health Insurers Warn Medicaid Cuts Would Endanger Essential Care-Management Programs
Not-for-profit health insurers warned Monday that federal Republican lawmakers' proposed Medicaid funding cuts would endanger programs essential to caring for members who are elderly, disabled or suffering from substance use disorders.
Vulnerable Medicaid members would go without necessary care and some would even lose coverage, driving up the cost of uncompensated care at hospitals throughout the states, medical directors at regional health plans Geisinger Health Plan and UCare said during a teleconference organized by the Alliance of Community Health Plans, which represents not-for-profit insurers. (Livingston, 6/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Indiana Skipped Legal Steps In Requesting Medicaid Waiver
Indiana has opened up its pending request for a Medicaid work requirement to legal challenges by skipping a crucial step in the submission process. The state submitted the amendment as part of its renewal application for its Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 waiver to the CMS on May 25, the CMS said in a notice released Friday. The comment period for the request doesn't end until later this month. The amendment proposes requiring Medicaid beneficiaries to be employed or searching for work in order to be eligible for the program. ... CMS and Indiana may be violating federal public comment standards for waiver requests, according to St. Louis University health law professor Sidney Watson. (Dickson, 6/12)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin Continues To Lose Out Under Republicans' Obamacare Repeal Legislation
States like Wisconsin that didn't fully expand their health programs under Obamacare would still miss out on billions of dollars under a proposed Republican repeal of the federal law, an industry report has found. In a bit of political irony, mostly GOP-led states that didn't join the Obamacare party would get little in the way of credit — even from Republicans in Congress who are promoting a repeal bill. (Stein, 6/13)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Senate Slashes $1B From State Budget, Including Cuts To Prisons, Medicaid
Senate Republicans slashed $1 billion from the state's proposed two-year budget, cutting money from Medicaid and prisons as part of their plan to keep the state in the black. Cuts would include $200 million from Medicaid, $20 million from the state's prisons, at least three percent from many state agencies' budgets and dozens of earmarks. Republicans, who control the Ohio Senate, did add $6.4 million to tackle the state's drug epidemic, bringing the total to more than $176 million, Senate President Larry Obhof announced Monday. (Balmert, 6/12)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
State Agencies, Medicaid Take Brunt Of $1 Billion Budget Cut Proposed By Senate GOP
Ohio Senate Republicans said Monday they were able to close a projected $1 billion shortfall in the next two-year state budget without raising taxes or cutting essential public services. State lawmakers have been grappling since April with how to fill an estimated $800 million revenue gap in the 2018-19 budget. ... [Senate President Larry] Obhof said his chamber's version of the budget made across-the-board agency cuts of 3 to 4 percent and trimmed Medicaid spending by $200 million, including a $75 million cut to hospitals. (Borchardt, 6/12)
