Medicaid Expansion Advocates See Voters As The Way To Break Through Political Gridlock In Red States
When the question was put to voters last year in three states where Republican governors had resisted expansion, the answer was “yes.” “State advocates are looking up and saying, ‘We tried everything else, let’s go to a ballot initiative,' ” said Patrick Willard with Families USA. Medicaid news comes out of Ohio and New York as well.
The Hill:
Medicaid Expansion Backers Push Ballot Measures To Sidestep GOP
Medicaid expansion advocates are eyeing 2020 wins in red states by taking the issue straight to voters, a strategy that yielded success last year in other Republican-led states. Proponents are petitioning Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma to include ballot measures asking residents if they want to broaden out the federal health care program to cover more low-income adults, many of whom are uninsured. (Hellmann, 7/30)
Columbus Dispatch:
250,000 Fewer Ohioans Are On Medicaid, But Even The Experts Don't Know Why
Ohio’s Medicaid enrollment has declined more than 8% in the past two years, raising questions about whether the more than 250,000 former beneficiaries have become uninsured or found other health coverage. According to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, Medicaid enrollment has fallen in 23 of the past 24 months. More than three fourths of those leaving the rolls were adults while the rest, some 60,000, were children. (Candisky, 7/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
Deputy Commissioner Fired After New York City Forced To Repay $7 Million To State
A deputy commissioner at New York City’s social-services agency was fired after a judge in a disciplinary trial ruled he inaccurately designated 30 employees as performing Medicaid work, forcing the city to repay more than $7 million to the state. In a decision last month, a city administrative judge found that Thomas Colon, 49 years old, wrongly designated employees as performing only Medicaid-related work, which is eligible for a state reimbursement. (Honan, 7/30)
