Latest Morning Briefing Stories

850,000 Floridians Stuck In Health Care Limbo — And No Solution In Sight

KFF Health News Original

With legislators seemingly deadlocked on Medicaid expansion in Florida, residents in the “coverage gap” are stitching together their medical care through personal ingenuity, half doses of medicines and low-cost clinics.

15 States Extend Health Law’s Higher Medicaid Payments To Doctors

KFF Health News Original

The health law temporarily paid doctors more to handle the expected influx of patients when states expanded their Medicaid programs and some states are continuing that program because they find it has helped attract providers to the program.

The Red State Solution On Medicaid: Georgia’s Not Part Of It

KFF Health News Original

The final piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s series on Arkansas’ privatized Medicaid expansion looks at how several red states are considering such a model as a politically palatable way to extend coverage to the poor.

Some Face A Big Bill From Medi-Cal — After They Die

KFF Health News Original

California is one of the few states that charge the estates of deceased Medicaid beneficiaries for the cost of their health coverage. A bill is moving through the state legislature to stop the practice.

Obamacare Cash Helps Pay Texas’ Medicaid Bill

KFF Health News Original

A provision of the Affordable Care Act that covers some Medicaid administrative costs will help close a $338 million gap in the state’s Medicaid budget, even though Texas has declined to expand the health program for the poor.

Missouri Medicaid Turns To Wellness Incentives

KFF Health News Original

Incentives designed to spur enrollees to exercise, eat healthier and make regular doctor visits are built into Medicaid managed care contracts that Missouri officials recently awarded to three insurers.

Republican Lawmakers Sink Montana Governor’s Medicaid Expansion Plan

KFF Health News Original

A House committee gives the bill a “do not pass” recommendation, which effectively kills Democrats’ efforts to get it on the House floor. A Republican counter-proposal that includes premiums and co-payments for Medicaid enrollees may come out of the state Senate.