Free Republic

Conservatives in the Ohio House this week blocked a move widely viewed as an attempt by Governor John Kasich to set aside money he could later spend on Medicaid expansion without legislative approval. The version of House Bill 483 (HB 483) passed by the Ohio Senate included a last-minute change to move as much as $300 million in surplus state revenue to the state Medicaid Reserve Fund. Legislators feared this was an effort by the Kasich Administration to circumvent the General Assembly for spending on the Obamacare Medicaid expansion when an existing appropriation expires in mid-2015. ... Kasich, a Republican,...

A couple of weeks ago I visited my internist for the annual physical to which she subjects me in order to confirm that my various organs are still operating according to specifications. As she poked and prodded, I asked how her practice was going. This question elicited a resigned sigh and a brief but poignant discourse on the necessity of “firing” her Medicaid patients. Medicaid, the government program that ostensibly provides health coverage for the poor, imposes so much red tape and pays so parsimoniously that she simply cannot afford to treat these patients if she wishes to avoid bankruptcy.

The White House announced weeks ago it would not release Obamacare enrollment data until November. On Saturday, though, it gave application data to the AP – but the information doesn't really make clear how many people will actually sign up for health plans. I've started two separate applications on HealthCare.gov and a handful on other state marketplaces. I account for about a half-dozen of those 476,000 applications. Other reporters are no doubt doing the same, as are curious shoppers across the country. Applications started might be a good measure for curiosity, but not necessarily coverage. Most health insurance plans don't...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly 2 in 3 uninsured low-income people who would qualify for subsidized coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law may be out of luck next year because their states have not expanded Medicaid. An Associated Press analysis of figures from the Urban Institute finds a big coverage gap developing, with 9.7 million out of 15 million potentially eligible adults living in states that are refusing the expansion or are still undecided with time running short. That a majority of the neediest people who could be helped by the law may instead remain uninsured is a predicament...