Georgia Legislature Expected To Take Early Vote On Hospital Tax To Raise Money For Medicaid
Lawmakers must decide whether to continue the tax that leverages more federal Medicaid funding, but some legislative leaders suggest that a broader discussion will include efforts to help rural hospitals. In addition, the Wyoming governor says that uncertainty in Washington has doomed his efforts to promote a Medicaid expansion.
Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Medicaid Expansion? Nah. Get Ready First For A Fight Over A Georgia ‘Bed Tax’
Georgia lawmakers are readying for a brutal – and potentially early – debate over whether to extend a tax that plugs a gaping hole in the state Medicaid system in the opening days of next year’s legislative session. Donald Trump’s election – and his vows to gut Obamacare – have sidelined talk about a Medicaid expansion under the imperiled Affordable Care Act. Most lawmakers talk of a wait-and-see approach toward health policy after Trump’s election. (Bluestein, 12/2)
Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune:
Medicaid Expansion Dies Quietly In Wyoming
Hopes for Medicaid expansion, the program intended to bring health coverage to thousands of low-income adults, have died in Wyoming. The four-year effort to expand Medicaid in the Cowboy State expired unceremoniously in the wake of Donald Trump’s successful White House bid. The president-elect has said he will overhaul or replace the Affordable Care Act, of which growth of the Medicaid program was a key component. (Hancock, 12/4)