- Republicans Eye Medicaid Cuts to Help Finance Their New Health Plan Fiscal Times by Eric Pianin—Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said on Thursday that House GOP leaders and strategists were closing in on a plan to repeal and partially replace the Affordable Care Act with a series of dramatic changes, including revamping and reducing the Medicaid program for low-income Americans, a refundable tax credit to help consumers cover premium costs, and other changes to encourage competition among insurers and bring down cost. One of the most controversial issues is how the Republicans will treat Medicaid as part of their overall effort to replace Obamacare.
- GOP Considers Medicaid Reforms for Reconciliation Bill Morning Consult by Mary Ellen Mcintire—House Republicans are weighing specific reforms to Medicaid that could be included in a reconciliation measure to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. How to deal with the federal expansion of Medicaid under the ACA is one of the main unanswered questions as Congress works to overhaul Obamacare—one that has exposed divisions between the House’s most conservative members and GOP lawmakers from states that chose to expand the federal program for low-income Americans.
- GOP May Boost Medicaid Spending in Order to Slash the Program Politico by Jennifer Haberkorn and Rachana Pradhan—Republicans determined to cut Medicaid may first have to pour more money into it, to keep the peace between Republican governors who expanded health care for low-income people under Obamacare and those who resisted. It’s all part of the GOP’s long-term plan to dramatically revamp the health care entitlement for the poor in order to cap what they see as runaway federal spending.
- Trump Nominee Has Decried Medicaid for Fostering Dependency AP by Carla Johnson—The businesswoman President Donald Trump selected to oversee Medicaid, the health care program for 74 million low-income Americans, has said the program is structurally flawed by policies that burden states and foster dependency among the poor.