On Election Day, Utah residents will be going to the polls to vote on whether the state will join 33 others and Washington, D.C., in expanding Medicaid coverage to many more low-income adults. Democratic and Republican states have expanded. Nebraska and Idaho also have the Medicaid question on ballots in their states. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, a Republican, endorsed the expansion initiative Tuesday. And in Montana, voters will decide whether to approve a tobacco tax to continue that state's Medicaid expansion or let it roll back next year. (Alison Kodjak, National Public Radio)

Georgia’s neck-and-neck governor’s race is one of at least half a dozen where a Democrat supporting Medicaid expansion has a fighting chance to replace a Republican who opposes it. Competitive races in Florida, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota could also flip the status of holdout states that have so far refused Obamacare's Medicaid expansion—though Republican legislatures are not likely to make it easy. (Alice Miranda Ollstein, Politico)

Voters this year have told pollsters in no uncertain terms that health care is important to them. In particular, maintaining insurance protections for preexisting conditions is the top issue to many. But the results of the midterm elections are likely to have a major impact on a broad array of other health issues that touch every American. And how those issues are addressed will depend in large part on which party controls the U.S. House and Senate, governors’ mansions, and state legislatures around the country. (Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News)

Republicans are entering the final days of the campaign with a message they hope will win over wavering suburban voters — the economy is booming, don’t let Democrats ruin it — while echoing President Trump in stoking fears about undocumented immigrants to try to rile the GOP base. (Mike DeBonis, Washington Post)

In campaign speeches, advertisements, and interviews, Republican politicians are showing a zeal for protecting Americans with preexisting health conditions. President Trump has gone the furthest, saying not only that he will ensure protections for the previously ill, but also pledging that his party will do so more effectively than Democrats. There are many reasons to doubt these words. (Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times)

Medicaid expansion enrollment starts Thursday in Virginia for coverage that will start at the beginning of 2019. Expanding Medicaid was among the biggest legislative priorities for Gov. Ralph Northam, who plans a speech Thursday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond. (Associated Press)

Montana legislators expanded Medicaid by a very close vote in 2015. They passed the measure with an expiration date: It would sunset in 2019, and all who went onto the rolls would lose coverage unless lawmakers voted to reapprove it. (Eric Whitney, Montana Public Radio)

The Trump administration is allowing Wisconsin to become the first state to compel certain poor residents to disclose behavior such as drinking and exercise to qualify for Medicaid—and to charge more to people whose behavior the state judges as risky. Federal health officials, however, rebuffed an unprecedented effort by Wisconsin to impose drug tests on Medicaid applicants. (Amy Goldstein, Washington Post)

Virginia is facing a huge bill for unexpected Medicaid costs that hamper proposed new spending on things like school improvements or tax breaks for the poor. State officials said Friday that Virginia has about $460 million in unforeseen Medicaid costs. (Alan Suderman, Associated Press)

The ACA’s insurance marketplaces opened for a sixth year Thursday with more stable health plan choices and rates, plus significant tests of the effects of recent Republican moves to undercut parts of the law. (Amy Goldstein, Washington Post)

In the span of less than 12 hours last week, the Trump administration took two seemingly contradictory actions that could have profound effects on the insurance marketplaces set up by the ACA. First, officials issued guidance Monday morning that could weaken the exchanges set up for people who buy their own insurance. The new approach makes it easier for states to get around some ACA requirements. Yet, the other move could bolster ACA marketplaces by sending millions of people with job-based coverage there, armed with tax-free money from their employers to buy individual plans. (Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News)

Pfizer CEO Ian Read said the company will return to "business as normal" on its drug pricing in January, after agreeing to hold off on price increases earlier this year following pressure from President Trump. (Peter Sullivan, The Hill)