Medicaid

OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Another GOP governor accepts Medicaid expansion

by Sam Baker - 02/06/13 11:28 PM ET

Keep waiting on Basic Health Program: States that want to set up a Basic Health Program under the Affordable Care Act will have to keep waiting. Medicaid Director Cindy Mann said as much at a Families USA conference last week, and the Medicaid agency made it official with a questions-and-answers document Wednesday. The document says the Basic Health Program will be an option in 2015. Read it here.

{mosads}Doc fix: Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Joe Heck (R-Nev.) will take another stab at permanently repealing the Medicare payment rate that constantly threatens doctors with substantial payment cuts. The bipartisan duo introduced a bill Wednesday to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The legislation aims to replace the SGR with a system that rewards doctors based on the health of their patients, rather than paying for each service a doctor performs.

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State by state

Florida got permission to move forward with a Medicaid managed care program.

Georgia is moving forward with a mental health bill.

Lawmakers in Georgia also want their state’s “navigators” — insurance agents who work within the state’s exchange — to be licensed.

Reading list

The Washington Post‘s Sarah Kliff has the backstory on how Ohio’s governor came around to the Medicaid expansion.

Republicans are coming around to the Medicaid expansion, Bloomberg notes.

The federal exchange is hoping to attract more than 250,000 agents and brokers, LifeHealthPro reports.

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