Medicaid expansion in Michigan has taken a slight pitstop, and will not take effect until late March or early April instead of Jan. 1. The senate sent HB 4714 to the House Tuesday morning, but failed to vote on granting the bill immediate effect.
Senate Democrats pushed to call for a vote on immediate effect, but Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who presides over the Senate, told the chamber that the bill had already been delivered to the House.
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Despite the drama in the Senates, lasting eight hours, eight Republicans joined all 12 Senate Democrats and passed the bill 75-32 that would expand Medicaid to close to 450,000 of the state’s working poor adults.
To grant the bill immediate effect, supermajority was required, and it fell two votes short of the 26 needed.
“The people of our state are left to pay the price because the Senate Republicans chose to play political games rather than do the right thing on this fundamentally important legislation,” Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said in a statement. “This obstruction is disrespectful to the members of this chamber, and most importantly, the people we were elected to serve.”
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The delay could cost the state millions and decrease the amount of savings the state is projected to see in its general fund.
House members were greeted with a letter on their desk today from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was responding to a letter from Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake.
Sebelius clarified in the letter that if the Legislature expands coverage and drops it at a later date, there would not be a financial penalty as a result, and no reduction in federal matching dollar rates.
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“Further, dropping such coverage would not jeopardize the state’s ability to participate in any other parts of the Medicaid program,” Sebelius wrote.
Medicaid expansion is headed to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk, but he isn’t likely to sign it for about two weeks, when he returns from an investment mission in China.
Christopher J. Berry is a Michigan elder law attorney Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.theeldercarefirm.com/ or call 248.481.4000
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Snyder demanded Senate Republicans to “take a vote, not a vacation” and urged residents to “bug the living daylights” out of them.
After his recent blast of the Senate Republicans for their failure to vote on Medicaid expansion and reform plan before summer break, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is on the road to advocate for the benefits of the proposal.
Snyder’s office announced “A Conversation With the Governor,” a series of informal discussion with a variety of audiences throughout the state. The Republican governor is expected to begin the series in Grand Rapids, where he will discuss the “Healthy Michigan” initiative with Spectrum Health System employees and other stakeholders.
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“The Healthy Michigan plan is vital to the health of our families and the economic success of our state. Unfortunately, Michigan now faces a sense of urgency to approve the plan in the light of the Senate’s failure to vote before taking a summer vacation,” Snyder said.
“I look forward to sharing information about the plan with health care providers, employers and all Michiganders so that we can work together to move it forward. Healthy Michigan is a good step for our state. It will help build healthier families and a stronger Michigan.”
For months, Snyder has lobbied lawmakers to expand Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the poverty level using funding promised by the federal government under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
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Despite their initial dismissal of the governor’s proposal, House Republicans ended up working with Snyder to develop an expansion plan that includes a number of state-level reforms.
After approving the measure in a 76-31 bipartisan vote, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville failed to call an up-or-down vote in that chamber before lawmakers left town for summer break, planting serious seeds of doubt regarding the fate of the expansion proposal.
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Then, in an afternoon press conference, Snyder demanded Senate Republicans to “take a vote, not a vacation” and urged residents to “bug the living daylights” out of them.
Christopher J. Berry is an elder law lawyer in Michigan Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.michiganelderlawattorney.com/ or call 248.481.4000
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Rural areas could suffer in states that opt against Medicaid expansion.
The goal of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act is supposed to cover more of the working poor and balance out cuts that were made to already-struggling hospitals. However, Republican-led states have been opting out or holding out, while outlying areas in states like Tennessee may be the most severely impacted.
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Partners for Healing in Tullahoma, Tenn., offers care exclusively to the uninsured workers — and there’s a number of them in the town of 18,000 — with a number of studies indicating that rural Americans are more likely to have low-wage jobs, and no insurance.
Kentucky Democrat Governor Steve Beshear announced that he will expand Medicaid coverage and nearly cut the state’s uninsured population in half. The expansion will extend coverage to adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, providing public health assistance to more than 300,000 people.
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Those pushing for Medicaid expansion credited GOP lawmakers for putting forth a House bill for discussion. Senate Republicans met behind closed doors to discuss the plan but failed to reach a consensus.
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A health advocacy group has developed a compromise proposal in hopes of ending the debate in California of how to expand Medi-Cal. Health Access California proposes a time frame and percentages for the state and countries to share $1.4 billion in savings when Medi-Cal coverage is expanded next year. State and county officials have been playing tug-a-war with how the windfall should be divided.
Read more: http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2013/May/10/medicaid-expansion.aspx
Christopher J. Berry is a Michigan elder law attorney Dedicated to helping seniors, veterans and their families navigate the long-term care maze. To learn more visit http://www.michiganelderlawattorney.com/ or call 248.481.4000
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