Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For People Covered By Medicaid Expansion, Health Law Debate In Washington Hits Home
With the latest Republican health care overhaul teetering near collapse, one group in particular is watching with heightened anxiety. The debate in Congress is personal for many of those who gained coverage through Medicaid in the 31 states that expanded the program under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. (Cassidy and Mulvihill, 9/26)
The National Association of Medicaid Directors emphasized Monday that its attention-getting opposition to the Graham-Cassidy health reform legislation was a consensus view of the board, and not a unanimous decision by all Medicaid directors. ... The statement by the Medicaid directors did not go before the full membership for a vote, said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medical Directors (NAMD). (Miller, 9/25)
As they propose to give each state a wad of federal cash to replace the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 health insurance, Senate Republicans have a ready comparison to press their case: the overhaul of welfare adopted two decades ago. But the authors of the Senate鈥檚 latest bill to repeal President Barack Obama鈥檚 health law face one glaring flaw with the analogy: Few people would applaud a dramatic plunge in health insurance coverage the way they cheered the steep declines of the welfare rolls after the 1996 welfare law went into force. (Pear, 9/25)
