Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'There Will Be A Budget': A Top Virginia Republican Promises That Lawmakers Will Iron Out Medicaid Differences
The Associated Press: Virginia Senate Leader: No Shutdown Over Medicaid
The top Republican in the Virginia Senate pledged Monday that a long-simmering and unresolved fight over Medicaid expansion won’t lead to a state government shutdown. But Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment didn’t say how the dispute will be resolved. Norment said at a committee hearing Monday that would be “unacceptable” and “untenable” for lawmakers not to pass a state spending plan before the end of the fiscal year.“There will be a timely biennium state budget before June 30th,” Norment said. “There will be a budget.” (Suderman, 5/14)
The Washington Post: Virginia Budget Inches Along As Passions Over Medicaid Inspired ‘Die-In’
Virginia’s slow-motion battle over the state budget and Medicaid expansion inched forward Monday as the state Senate convened for a procedural move that put the spending bill before the chamber’s money committee. The Senate gathered to assigned the House’s two-year, $115 billion spending plan to the Senate Finance Committee, which met immediately afterward but did not vote. The panel is expected to vote on the bill at a meeting Tuesday or Wednesday. (Vozzella, 5/14)
