Pa. Governor Likely To Back Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, is reportedly considering models similar to those being pursued by Iowa and Arkansas that rely on private-sector plans to cover the state's poorest residents. News outlets also report on developments in Arizona and California.
Politico: Sources: Tom Corbett Preparing To Embrace Pennsylvania Medicaid Expansion
Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is planning a Monday press conference to throw his support behind a version of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, industry and legislative sources tell POLITICO. Corbett’s eyeing versions of expansion that rely on private-sector health plans rather than adding to the public Medicaid rolls, similar to approaches being considered in Iowa and Arkansas, according to the sources. The approach would bring in billions of Obamacare dollars marked for states that back expansion and use them to buy private insurance for the state’s poorest residents (Cheney and Millman, 9/12).
The Hill: Pa. Governor To Accept Medicaid
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett will likely become the latest Republican governor to embrace ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion, the news site Lancaster Online reported Thursday. Corbett has been under intense pressure from healthcare advocates — as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius — to sign on to the Medicaid expansion (Baker, 9/12).
Politico: Arizona Activists Fail To Get Medicaid Expansion On Ballot – But Turn To Courts
The tea party just got iced in Arizona. Conservative activists narrowly failed to gather enough signatures for a 2014 ballot initiative to derail Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in the Grand Canyon State by the Wednesday night deadline (Cheney, 9/12).
California Healthline: Inland Empire Preps For Medi-Cal Growth
With an eye on California's Medi-Cal expansion only a few short months away, San Bernardino and Riverside counties are preparing to transition 54,000 people currently enrolled in Low Income Health Plans. The counties launched LIHPs in 2012 as part of a "bridge" program to extend health coverage to low-income residents who at the time did not qualify for Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. Starting Jan. 1, Medi-Cal eligibility will be broadened, and the state anticipates that the program's enrollment will increase dramatically. LIHPs were established as part of a strategy to prepare for the influx of newly insured residents under the Affordable Care Act (McSherry, 9/12).