Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Virginia Senate Appears To Have Secured Enough Votes To End Stalemate, Pass Medicaid Expansion
The Associated Press: Virginia Lawmakers Set To Expand Medicaid
Virginia lawmakers are set to end a budget stalemate and pass Medicaid expansion. Both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly are scheduled to meet Wednesday to take up a state budget plan that expands the publicly funded health care program for the poor. About 400,000 low-income adults would be newly eligible. Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for years to expand Medicaid in Virginia. Several state Republicans dropped their opposition this year, saying the state would be better off with increased federal funding for the program. (5/30)
The Washington Post: Va. Senate Appears Primed To Expand Medicaid In Wednesday Vote
Supporters consider expansion a moral and economic no-brainer, since the federal government is offering to pay 90 percent of the cost. Opponents, fearful that Washington will renege on the funding and stick Virginia with the whole $2 billion-a-year tab, call it financially irresponsible. After wrestling with that question for the past four years, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a spending plan in February with expansion. And supporters say they have the votes they need to do the same when the full Senate meets Wednesday. But first, Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. made an unsuccessful last-ditch effort Tuesday to try to block Medicaid expansion for yet another year. (Vozzella, 5/29)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Decisive Medicaid Battle Looms Wednesday In Virginia Senate
“Let’s put the excuses aside. At the end of the day, I need a budget,” the governor said after speaking at a Virginia Health Care Foundation celebration to mark 100,000 enrollments in the state’s health insurance program for children. The Senate is scheduled to convene on Wednesday at 9 a.m., followed by the House of Delegates at 2 p.m. The budget proposals the Senate Finance Committee adopted — one for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 and the other for the two years beginning July 1 — will be in a position to be amended, if Hanger has the votes to first reject the committee’s proposed amendments. (Martz, 5/28)
In other Medicaid news —
KCUR: Kansas Medicaid Woes Prolong Wait For Autistic Kids Needing Therapy
Autism looks very different in different people. But for those who struggle to communicate or interact with others, psychologists often point families to the kind of one-on-one treatment that Ridley receives — applied behavior analysis, or ABA. In Kansas, though, parents face long waitlists and shortages of providers. So a decade into statewide insurance reforms, more Kansans have coverage for this therapy, but that doesn’t mean kids get it. (Llopis-Jepsen, 5/30)
