- Senate GOP Health Bill Would Slash Medicaid. Here's How. CNN by Tami Luhby—Republicans have wanted to repeal Obamacare for years—but they've wanted to overhaul Medicaid for far longer. They are now getting their chance. The health care legislation working its way through Congress would do much more than its stated purpose of repealing and replacing Obamacare. It would make the most far-reaching changes and deepest cuts to Medicaid in the program's 52-year history. But the general thrust of both chambers' plans is clear: Lawmakers would effectively end Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults and would dramatically curtail federal support for the overall program, which covers more than 70 million low-income Americans. They would give states more control and flexibility in administering the program, but also require governors and legislators to foot much more of the bill.
- Ohio Lawmakers Vote To Freeze Medicaid Expansion Reuters by Kim Palmer—Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature voted on Wednesday to freeze enrollment in the state's Medicaid healthcare insurance for the poor, setting the stage for a showdown with Republican Governor John Kasich, who favors expanding the program. The proposed Medicaid freeze, which would deny coverage to hundreds of thousands of Ohio residents who lack job-related health insurance and cannot afford to purchase their own, was adopted as part of a $65 billion two-year budget plan. Kasich, a moderate Republican who sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and has been a vocal supporter of Medicaid expansion, could use a line-item veto against the freeze while he considers signing the broader budget legislation before a Friday deadline, his office said.