States Could Soon Be Forced to Eliminate Medicaid Expansion June 21, 2017 Senate GOP Health Plan May Not Protect Millions on Medicaid Expansion – CNN Money CNN Money interviewed Manatt’s Deborah Bachrach, a partner with Manatt Health, for an article on the likely effect that the GOP health plan would have on Medicaid expansion. CNN Money reports that moderate GOP senators are hoping to extend the life of Medicaid expansion beyond the hard cutoff contained in the House bill, which would end enhanced funding for new adult participants in 2020. They would like the federal support to ramp down over seven years, though Senate leaders have countered with a three-year glide path, which would start in 2020. Either one, however, would do little to protect millions of people covered through Medicaid expansion, because many states would likely be forced to eliminate the program even sooner or won't be able to afford to keep it running. "Most states do not have the dollars to fund Medicaid expansion once it drops below 90 percent," said Bachrach. "Once the dollars go away, the expansion goes away." Read the article here.
