Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ohio Gov. Kasich Touts Medicaid Report Showing Expansion Cut State's Uninsured Rate By Half
Columbus Dispatch: Report Touts Benefits Of Medicaid Expansion
In his final months in office, Gov. John Kasich sought on Tuesday to shore up support for his signature Medicaid expansion, arguing that the health coverage has helped thousands of Ohioans get needed care at a reasonable cost. ...While the federal government pays 63 percent of traditional Medicaid costs, the federal match is 93.5 percent for expansion costs, phasing down to 90 percent in 2021, amid ongoing rumblings that Ohio lawmakers and Washington Republicans could try to dismantle the four-year-old program as financially unsustainable. (Candisky, 8/21)
NPR: Ohio Medicaid Expansion Cut Uninsured By Half, Report Finds
Four years after going out on a limb to get Medicaid expansion enacted in Ohio, outgoing Republican Gov. John Kasich is worried about the future of the program. So he is now defending it — through a study and through the stories of people who have benefited from the coverage expansion. (Kasler, 8/21)
Also in the news about Medicaid -
Modern Healthcare: GAO Urges Scrutiny Of Medicaid Managed-Care Organizations
The U.S. comptroller general on Tuesday urged a Senate panel to tighten oversight of Medicaid providers and managed-care plans, and criticized the Obama administration's lax auditing of Medicaid insurers as millions joined the rolls through expansion. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro and CMS Administrator Seema Verma urged lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to look at managed care in expansion states, particularly when they cover large swaths of the Medicaid population. Improper Medicaid payments soared to an estimated $37 billion in fiscal 2017, and Dodaro argued that the federal government needs to join forces with state auditors to combat the issue. (Luthi, 8/21)
