Wyo. Lawmakers Reject Medicaid Expansion
Meanwhile, the anti-Obamacare group Americans For Prosperity flexes its muscles against the Medicaid expansion in Tennessee and Montana. And in California, a shortage of doctors to see Medi-Cal patients.
Caspar Star-Tribune:
Medicaid Expansion Killed In Wyoming Senate And House
Proposals to expand Medicaid in Wyoming are effectively dead after senators voted down Senate File 129 and a House committee pulled its expansion plan from consideration Friday. The Senate voted 19-11 against expanding health care coverage to more than 17,600 uninsured Wyomingites. Proposals to expand were met on the Senate floor with stiff opposition to federal health care policy. (Graff and Hancock, 2/6)
Reuters:
Wyoming Senate Rejects Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
The Wyoming Senate on Friday rejected a bill that would have supported the state's expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, effectively shutting the door for the remainder of year. (2/6)
NBC News:
In Rebuke of Tennessee Governor, Koch Group Shows Its Power
In December, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, got the deal he wanted from the Obama administration: Tennessee would accept more than $1 billion in federal funding to expand Medicaid, as allowed for in the Affordable Care Act, but Obama aides would allow Haslam to essentially write staunchly conservative ideas into the program's rules for the state. He dubbed the reformed Medicaid program "Insure Tennessee." But the state's chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the national conservative group whose foundation is chaired by controversial billionaire David Koch, argued Haslam was just trying to trick conservatives into implementing Obamacare in their state by giving it a new name. AFP campaigned aggressively Haslam's plans for the next six weeks, even running radio ads blasting GOP state legislators who said they might vote for it. (Bacon Jr, 2/6)
The Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune:
AFP Takes Aim At Medicaid Growth
On one side of the debate was Zach Lahn, the man who managed Republican Sen. Steve Daines’ 2012 congressional campaign and later served as his state director. Lahn is now the director of the Montana chapter of the Americans for Prosperity, the group that hosted Monday’s meeting and two others like it across the state last week. ... Lahn organized the town hall events last week in Dillon, Roundup and Kalispell, the hometowns of three Republican lawmakers who refused to sign AFP pledge cards vowing to oppose any expansion Medicaid expansion plan, which AFP says is an expansion of Obamacare. (Adams, 2/8)
The San Jose Mercury News:
Obamacare: Medi-Cal A Waiting Game For Many Low-Income Californians
One year into the explosive, health law-induced growth of Medi-Cal, it appears one of the most alarming predictions of critics is coming true: The supply of doctors hasn't kept up with demand. One recent study suggests the number of primary care doctors in California per Medi-Cal patient is woefully below federal guidelines. (Seipel, 2/7)
