Administration Pushes GOP-Controlled States To Accept Medicaid Dollars
The White House is pushing Florida and Louisiana to accept the health law's Medicaid expansion -- and the federal dollars that come with it. In the meantime, lawmakers from New Hampshire and Pennsylvania look for ways their states can also expand the state-federal health care program.
Politico: White House Pushes Florida, Louisiana On Medicaid
The Obama administration again called out states that have refused to expand Medicaid on Thursday, calling it a "reckless" play to undercut Obamacare at the expense of their constituents' health. The White House held a conference call featuring officials in Florida and Louisiana who made the case for expanding the program and attacked those holding it up. President Barack Obama is traveling to the two states tomorrow on unrelated business, but the messaging is part of a larger drive to draw attention to the states that have refused to cover low-income people -- and away from the tidal wave of bad news about Americans whose health plans are being canceled (Norman, 11/7).
The Associated Press: N.H. Lawmakers Offer Ways To Expand Medicaid
Democratic and Republican political leaders continued Thursday to work behind the scenes on a possible compromise to expand Medicaid in New Hampshire as they publicly lauded different ways to get the job done. Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan and legislative leaders have been trying to negotiate a compromise for weeks, but with nothing decided, the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-led House filed different expansion bills Thursday (Love, 11/7).
The Associated Press: Casey Asks Corbett To Expand Pa. Medicaid Program
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is asking Gov. Tom Corbett to embrace an expansion of Medicaid to ensure that federally funded health insurance is accessible to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania's working poor when it becomes available next year. In a Thursday letter, Casey warned Corbett that refusing the Medicaid expansion unnecessarily penalizes people who would otherwise have coverage beginning Jan. 1 if the federal government does not agree to changes in the program being sought by Corbett (Levy, 11/7).