- What Red States Are Passing up as Blue States Get Billions New York Times by Margot Sanger-Katz and Kevin Quealey — For years, red states have effectively been subsidizing part of health insurance for blue states. By declining to expand their Medicaid programs as part of the Affordable Care Act, many of those states have passed up tens of billions of federal dollars they could have used to offer health coverage to more poor residents. That means that taxpayers in Texas are helping to fund treatment for patients with opioid addiction in Vermont, while Texans with opioid problems may have no such option. … "They are leaving a lot of money on the table that would cover a lot of people, full stop," said Chris Sloan, a senior manager at Avalere who helped build the model.
- Trump Administration Plan to Add Medicaid Work Requirement Stirs Fears Kaiser Health News by Phil Galewitz — The Trump administration's recent endorsement of work requirements in Medicaid and increased state flexibility is part of broader strategy to shrink the fast-growing program for the poor and advance conservative ideas that Republicans failed to get through Congress. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, laid out her vision for the state-federal program in two appearances last week, saying her new course give states wide latitude over eligibility and benefits… But her outline scares advocates who see the changes as a way for states to kick millions of adults off the program and undermine its mission of providing health coverage to the poor. They note most nondisabled adults on Medicaid already work. Many who don't are either too sick, go to school or care for relatives.