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A funny thing happened on the way to Medicaid expansion in Virginia: it didn’t happen. Governor Terry McAuliffe demanded expansion. The Washington Post and other state-worshiping media outlets insisted on its passage. The Post explained, “there remains only one reasonable solution: Republicans must ultimately compromise on expanding Medicaid.” But Republican legislators stood strong in the face of months of pressure — proving that it is, indeed, possible for them to maintain their principles. After a long legislative tug-of-war seemingly headed toward a government shutdown, the state senate suddenly flipped. It went from evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, 20-20, to...

Obamacare, as its advocates increasingly point out, has succeeded in expanding the number of Americans with insurance. Even though this achievement came at enormous cost, still leaves millions of Americans uninsured, and dumped millions more into Medicaid, this is still one of the few “successes” that the health-care law can claim. However, health insurance and access to health care are not the same thing. And evidence is growing that Obamacare is likely to make it harder for us to see a doctor or otherwise obtain care. Of course, we already know that the limited network of physicians available through most...

<p>As heavy lobbying by the hospital industry intersects with immediate political considerations, a growing number of Republican governors are caving in to Medicaid expansion through President Obama’s healthcare law.</p> <p>In the process, they are imposing massive and unnecessary financial burdens on taxpayers.</p>

Ending a yearlong negotiation, the Obama administration on Thursday approved Gov. Corbett's alternative Medicaid expansion proposal, a step that could extend health-care benefits to roughly 600,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians. In what was described as a five-year demonstration project, Pennsylvania got the go-ahead to use federal money to pay private insurers to provide health care to uninsured individuals - many in low-wage jobs. The Obama administration praised Pennsylvania for joining other states that opted into the program under the Affordable Care Act. Corbett administration officials called the agreement a successful compromise.

The cost of providing free taxpayer-funded coverage to Bay Staters unable to sign up for Obamacare because of Massachusetts’ disastrous website problems has soared to $173 million, according to a new Patrick administration report. Some 251,280 Bay Staters are now on the free transitional coverage — basically Medicaid — marking an increase of about 50,000 people since April that one watchdog found alarming. “There should be a red siren going off for state budget writers and taxpayers about the cost of this, and yet there seems to be very little alarm,” said Joshua Archambault of the Pioneer Institute. “There will...

<p>Chicago’s public health system is facing a massive $67 million shortfall after an early adoption of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion cost much more than expected, Crain’s Chicago Business reports.</p> <p>Cook County, which encompasses Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, made a deal with the Obama administration to get an early start on the health care law’s Medicaid expansion in 2012.</p>

A mountainous backlog of Medi-Cal applications is well into its third month, but California officials have provided little information about how and when the largest such bottleneck in the nation might be cleared. Not only has application processing been delayed, the state has also fallen behind in sending final notifications to enrollees, officials confirmed. Meanwhile, many low-income people who qualify for Medi-Cal are showing up at community clinics and costly emergency rooms as they have in the past. Others are putting off care. The holdup in Medi-Cal approvals has led to financial uncertainty for many of California's community health clinics,...

RICHMOND— Gov. Terry McAuliffe plans to expand Medicaid by executive action, he said Friday, sidestepping a Republican-controlled General Assembly that has blocked expansion through legislative action. McAuliffe also said he will veto sections of the state budget, including language meant to block expansion by fiat. His administration is looking at a number of options - which the governor did not detail - and expects to have a formal plan by September. The move leads Virginia into complex legal ground on arguably the most divisive political issue in the state. The governor said he'll allow most the spending plan to become...

irginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) on Friday said he would sign the state’s two-year budget but veto an amendment that would prevent him from expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare. McAuliffe plans to move forward with an expansion of Medicaid in his state under the new healthcare law. He also will scrap a proposed legislative commission on Medicaid reform, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The Virginia Democrat has ordered Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel to propose a Medicaid expansion plan by Sept. 1. McAuliffe promised he would expand Medicaid when he was running for governor. “We have the right...

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There are multiple levels of irony in this New York Times report on the impact of ObamaCare on poor patients in the nation’s hospitals. Congress demanded the power to revamp the health-insurance industry and expand Medicaid in order to help the poor get better medical care for less money. In reality, the opposite appears to be happening, as hospitals attempt to force the poor into ObamaCare: Hospital systems around the country have started scaling back financial assistance for lower- and middle-income people without health insurance, hoping to push them into signing up for coverage through the new online marketplaces...

More than one-fifth of the popu-lation of the United States was receiving Medicaid benefits before the passage of The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA expanded eligibility to adults under the age of 65 who have income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. As originally written, the ACA relied on two provisions intended to entice and prod states to expand their Medicaid programs. So far, about half of the states have expanded their programs. The carrot enticing states to expand their programs is the generous federal participation. This year, the federal government will cover 100% of the...

WASHINGTON — Surgery patients covered by Medicaid arrive at the hospital in worse health, experience more complications, stay longer and cost more than patients with private insurance, a new study has found. The study, by researchers at the University of Michigan, may offer a preview of what to expect as millions of uninsured people qualify for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has joined a growing list of Republican governors using Obamacare as a way to expand Medicaid. Pence announced Thursday a blueprint of conservative reforms to extend health coverage to a larger share of low-income residents, some of which already have been adopted by other red states, Politico reports. Pence said his proposal was "the kind of health reform that puts working Hoosiers in the driver's seat," according to Politico. Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll The plan outlines a number of specific proposals including: placing enrollees...

And Another Republican Governor Embraces ObamaCare's Medicaid Expansion Yesterday we covered how Arkansas Republicans went along with ObamaCare, today another GOP Governor drinks the Kool-Aid. Et tu, Mike Pence? More than a year in the making, HIP 2.0, as his staff has nicknamed it, would replace traditional Medicaid for all non-disabled Hoosiers ages 19 to 64 with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. If accepted by the Obama administration, it would expand coverage to an additional 350,000 Hoosiers who now lack a viable health insurance option, the governor's staff estimates. ... If approved, the move could...

A new report finds that Obamacare customers are in for sticker shock because, unlike many employer-sponsored insurance plans, the fine print in many Obamacare policies requires patients to meet their deductible before lower-cost prescription drug co-pays kick in. That means hefty out-of-pocket expenses for Obamacare plan holders, especially since Obamacare deductibles are "relatively high" as compared to employer-sponsored insurance plans. The report, which was conducted by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and Breakaway Policy, concludes that even Obamacare customers who receive taxpayer-funded subsidies will "find it difficult to afford the amounts they will have to pay out-of-pocket before their Exchange...

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is considering expanding health coverage for the poor without the approval of the state legislature, a move that would muscle his top priority past Republican opponents but also throw his young administration into a partisan firestorm and uncertain legal territory. McAuliffe and his top advisers have consulted lawyers, health-care experts and legislators on how to bypass the GOP-dominated House of Delegates, according to three people familiar with the discussions. A fourth, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal private strategy, said the office of...

President Obama is doing his victory dance, telling us how his health care plan has become a success because his more than his targeted number (8 million) clicked their desire to have health insurance on a website. We will soon see how many are real policyholders, and later we will see their real costs as everything shakes out with co-pays and renewals next year. What we do know is that Medicaid is a pending disaster waiting to happen. When the Obamacare registration period started we were regularly hearing about all those new Medicaid sign-ups. Then we did not hear about...

The Arizona Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit challenging Gov. Jan Brewer's expansion of the state's Medicaid insurance plan for the poor. The court ruled Tuesday that lawmakers have the right to sue over a hospital assessment that funds the expansion.

Millions of Americans fall into the 'coverage gap' where they do not get Medicaid, but are too poor to qualify for federal subsidies on the new insurance exchanges.