Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida, Montana Lawmakers Look At Ways To Expand Medicaid
With a potential $1 billion budget hole looming, the Florida Senate is starting to consider whether and how to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid. There are at least two proposed bills floating around the chamber, and lawmakers are also raising the possibility of resurrecting the original plan, dubbed NegronCare. (Hatter, 3/6)
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson says the Obama administration won't back down on cutting off over $1 billion in aid to Florida hospitals if the state doesn't expand its Medicaid program. The Democratic senator said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told him her position on the aid is firm. (3/9)
A Great Falls Republican lawmaker debuts this week a Medicaid compromise bill that may be the best positioned to win this session’s health care debate. Sen. Ed Buttrey’s Montana HELP (Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership) Plan combines health care with economic development. The plan takes federal money to stretch Medicaid to cover 70,000 Montanans — the equivalent of the populations of Great Falls, Havre and White Sulphur Springs — who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid and too little to be eligible for subsidies on insurance through the health care exchange. That is coupled with opportunities for job training, education and help finding a job match. (Inbody, 3/8)
