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Medicaid expansion will start in Alaska Tuesday after the Alaska Supreme Court said it would not block enrollment in the broadened health care program. The court’s order Monday marks a victory for Gov. Bill Walker in an ongoing lawsuit between his administration and the state Legislature over the legality of expanding Medicaid without legislative approval. ... While the Supreme Court denied the Legislature’s motion for a temporary restraining order, which would have temporarily stopped enrollment in expanded Medicaid, the underlying lawsuit pitting the Legislature against the Walker administration still stands. (Hanlon, 8/31)

Thousands of lower-income Alaskans will become eligible for Medicaid after the Alaska Supreme Court on Monday refused to temporarily block the state from expanding the health care program. The win capped a big day for Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, who earlier flew with President Barack Obama from Washington, D.C., to Anchorage. (Thiessen, 9/1)

Shortly before 1 a.m. on July 15, Gov. Greg Abbott sent an email from his personal account to his top advisers about an editorial published by the Houston Chronicle. Its author, Ken Janda, had written that Texas' health care safety net system for the poor and uninsured was “in serious danger of meltdown" because state leaders were refusing to expand health coverage to a million uninsured Texans living in poverty. The governor told aides he wanted to “see the financials” of Janda’s nonprofit Community Health Choice, a health insurer affiliated with the Harris Health System, one of Texas’ largest public hospitals. (Walters, 8/31)