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GOP governors confront Medicaid divide


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320914-gop-governors-confront-medicaid-divideThe Hill:

Governors are descending on Washington this weekend as Republicans wrestle with the future of ObamaCare's expansion of Medicaid.

 

GOP lawmakers say they are looking to governors for advice on what to do about the program, which is one of the toughest issues Republicans face as they look to repeal and replace the healthcare law.

 

Many of the lawmakers representing states that accepted the Medicaid expansion are looking to keep it. But they are at odds with conservatives and Republicans from states that rejected the expansion; they are pushing full repeal.

 

It will be hard for any repeal and replace bill to pass Congress unless Republicans can bridge that divide, and they are looking to the governors, who help run Medicaid as a joint federal-state program, for help.

 

“We're in extensive discussions with them and we'll talk with them more when they get here and then move ahead on both Medicaid and the individual market,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told reporters earlier this month, speaking of the governors meeting.

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GOP brings flexibility, choice and quality to Medicaid

 

House Republicans have promised to announce their long-awaited plan to repeal and replace Obamacare on Feb. 27, shortly after returning from recess. Judging from the policy brief released before the President's Day break, Medicaid reform will be a major component of that plan.

 

This is welcome news. Obamacare drastically expanded eligibility for the healthcare entitlement for low-income Americans while doing nothing to address the program's central flaws. All but 19 states expanded their Medicaid programs under the law. Those states that did so now receive 90 percent of the cost of expansion. The latest House plan, by contrast, would give Medicaid the overhaul it has long needed by empowering states to meet the unique healthcare needs of its least-advantaged residents.

 

First, it would roll back Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, while providing a transition period in which states would continue to receive the health law's enhanced funding. States would then have a choice between two new funding models. The first is a per-capita allotment, which would cap the amount of federal funds available to states based on the number of Medicaid enrollees. The second is a block grant model, in which states receive a fixed funding amount each year.

 

Both approaches allow states to spend their Medicaid dollars as they see fit.

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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gop-brings-flexibility-choice-and-quality-to-medicaid/article/2615667

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