More GOP-Led States Are Considering Medicaid Expansion
In Tennessee, pressure from businesses to embrace the expansion of the health care program for poorer Americans forced lawmakers to reconsider their staunchly anti-expansion stance. In Kansas, some lawmakers are readying legislation to adopt the expansion.
NPR:
Red States Move To Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare
Republican governors in Indiana, Tennessee, Utah and other states are pushing Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act — something many at first resisted. (Allen, 2/4)
Bloomberg:
Tennessee Shows How Republicans Learned To Embrace Obama's Medicaid
Republican-led states that blocked Obamacare's Medicaid expansion have found a way to embrace it, under pressure from businesses to tap the flood of federal dollars it brings. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, R, called lawmakers into a special session this week to consider accepting federal money to extend public health-care assistance to more of the poor. Indiana announced its expansion last week. (Newkirk and Olorunnipa, 2/3)
Politico Pro:
Kansas Lawmakers Try To Stir Some Medicaid Motion
There are inklings of Medicaid expansion in Kansas, but it’s not conservative Gov. Sam Brownback causing the stir. A legislative committee known as Vision 2020 has been holding hearings on expansion and is aiming to present legislation on Feb. 9, according to the chairman. Kansas hospitals have been drafting their own proposal, which draws on approaches pursued in other states such as Iowa, Indiana and Arkansas. (Pradhan, 2/3)
Meanwhile, on the health exchange front -
The Seattle Times:
Enrollment Falling Far Short Of State Health Exchange's Goal
With less than two weeks remaining for people to buy health coverage for 2015, it’s going to be a scramble for the state insurance exchange to hit its goals. The good news is that since the Affordable Care Act kicked in, hundreds of thousands of formerly uninsured people have coverage in Washington through the expansion of Medicaid and sale of individual health-insurance plans. (Stiffler, 2/3)
