The health bill being drafted by Republican senators would extend the Medicaid expansion beyond 2020, the ending date in the health bill the House passed last month, some of them told reporters after meetings on the issue.
"Republicans were reluctant to disclose all the details of the bill but said it would protect those with pre-existing conditions and would keep the Obamacare expansion of Medicaid for several years, even beyond 2020," Susan Ferrechio reports for the Washington Examiner.
The Medicaid expansion covers more Americans than those who have subsidized policies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In Kentucky, the expansion covers 470,000 people. Under the House bill, starting in 2020, there would be no more enrollments in the expansion, and those who no longer qualified for it would be unable to regain coverage.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, a physician who chairs the Republican Policy Committee, "said Republicans are discussing a plan, first pitched in a reform bill authored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would set up an auto-enrollment system for basic health-care coverage," Ferrechio reports.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters, "We've had plenty of time to discuss this issue. We are getting close to having a proposal to whip and to take to the floor. . . . We'll bring it up in the near future."
McConnell's chief deputy, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, has said the Senate will act on a bill before it leaves for its August recess. He said Tuesday that there have been no agreements about what will be in the bill. Republicans are trying to draft a bill on their own without involving Democrats; that means they can afford to lose only two of their 52 members on a floor vote.
"Republicans were reluctant to disclose all the details of the bill but said it would protect those with pre-existing conditions and would keep the Obamacare expansion of Medicaid for several years, even beyond 2020," Susan Ferrechio reports for the Washington Examiner.
The Medicaid expansion covers more Americans than those who have subsidized policies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In Kentucky, the expansion covers 470,000 people. Under the House bill, starting in 2020, there would be no more enrollments in the expansion, and those who no longer qualified for it would be unable to regain coverage.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, a physician who chairs the Republican Policy Committee, "said Republicans are discussing a plan, first pitched in a reform bill authored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would set up an auto-enrollment system for basic health-care coverage," Ferrechio reports.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters, "We've had plenty of time to discuss this issue. We are getting close to having a proposal to whip and to take to the floor. . . . We'll bring it up in the near future."
McConnell's chief deputy, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, has said the Senate will act on a bill before it leaves for its August recess. He said Tuesday that there have been no agreements about what will be in the bill. Republicans are trying to draft a bill on their own without involving Democrats; that means they can afford to lose only two of their 52 members on a floor vote.
from Kentucky Health News http://ift.tt/2s1m4Rk
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