GOP Supermajority In Missouri Scuttles Medicaid Expansion Plans
Lawmakers opt to set up committees to study the issue instead. In Texas, some tea party-affiliated lawmakers threaten to reject the state budget if negotiators include a rider that would allow discussions about expanding coverage with the federal government. Efforts in California, meanwhile, move forward with a $26.5 million injection from the California Endowment.
Politico: Missouri Lawmakers Torpedo Medicaid Expansion
Republican supermajorities have all but scuttled Medicaid expansion in Missouri, defeating — at least for this year — efforts supported by the Democratic governor to extend basic health coverage to an estimated 250,000 low-income state residents. State lawmakers are set to finalize their annual budget this week, and neither chamber included expansion in their blueprints. They’ve opted to create committees to study the issue for the rest of the year and to report on the impact of expansion in early 2014, delaying any decision until after the Jan. 1 start date (Cheney, 5/8).
The Texas Tribune: As Clock Ticks, Chance For Medicaid Expansion Dwindles
Some members of the Tea Party faction in the House are prepared to vote down the 2014-15 budget — and potentially send the Legislature into a special session — if budget negotiators include a rider that would open the door to discussions with the federal government to expand health care coverage for the state’s poorest adults (Aaronson and Batheja, 5/8).
California Healthline: Medi-Cal Outreach Gets Big Boost
If the state won't pay for it, one private donor will. The California Endowment yesterday committed $26.5 million to fund the state's Medi-Cal expansion outreach under the Affordable Care Act. The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Human Services yesterday voted unanimously 3-0 to accept the contribution and directed state officials to apply for federal matching funds for a total of $53 million in outreach money (Gorn, 5/7).
And in state news regarding health exchanges -
Health Policy Solutions (a Colo. news service): Despite Outrage, Health Exchange Wants Additional $125 Million
Despite outrage from some lawmakers who called review of Colorado's health exchange a "mockery," a bid for an additional $125 million in federal dollars is likely to move forward by next week. … [State Sen. Irene] Aguilar anticipated "sticker shock" over such high costs, but as chair for the legislature's exchange review committee, she and vice-chair, Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, can authorize the grant request (Kerwin McCrimmon, 5/7).
