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At least two Republican-led states want to temporarily ease their Medicaid waiver requirements and make it easier for residents to get and keep coverage under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program during the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, Arizona and Iowa sent requests to the CMS so they can make temporary changes to their Medicaid programs, including eliminating premiums and pausing disenrollments. (Meyer, 3/18)

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s plan to customize Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma seeks to impose work or community-engagement requirements on thousands of low-income Oklahomans and charge them monthly premiums for health care services. Directed by Stitt, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority is seeking approval for a Healthy Adult Opportunity waiver — offered by the Trump administration to let states tailor their Medicaid expansion plans. (Forman, 3/19)

Minnesota lawmakers have approved more than $220 million to tackle the coronavirus. Washington state is tapping $175 million in reserves to test for the virus and treat patients. And Philadelphia’s city council is considering holding a teleconferenced public hearing so $85 million can be freed up to help combat the pandemic. States and cities across the U.S. are scrambling to quickly draw millions of dollars from their reserves to help cover coronavirus-related expenses such as testing and unemployment insurance, while also bracing for steep tax-revenue declines. (Calvert and Kamp, 3/19)

As tribes across the country take steps to fight the spread of the coronavirus, they’re doing so mindful that the virus has proven especially dangerous to the elderly, a venerated group in many Native communities. In her address, Gobin urged Tulalip members to look after the needs of Elders “so they don’t have to be in the public, because they are the most at-risk.” (Brown, 3/19)