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The Alabama Medicaid Agency, facing about $85 million less in funding than it says it needs to function, started laying out a case for more money to legislators Wednesday. ... The Legislature formed the committee as a way to gather data and learn more about the functions of the agency. Medicaid consumes about 38 percent of the General Fund budget, and legislators – unwilling or unable to create new revenue for the troubled budget – have accused the program of “cannibalizing” other state agencies in its needs. (Lyman, 4/20)

Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar talked to state legislators today about the agency's need for more money and about who uses the massive federal-state healthcare program. ... Gov. Robert Bentley requested a General Fund appropriation of $785 million for Medicaid next year, $100 million more than this year. The Legislature overrode Bentley's veto and passed a budget giving Medicaid $700 million from the General Fund, a $15 million increase and more than a third of the $1.85 billion General Fund. (Cason, 4/20)

The chairman of the panel said he didn't expect the hearings to fix the Medicaid Agency's projected $85 million shortfall. "These impacts have to be felt," said Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Daphne, chairman of the Joint Medicaid Study Group. Pittman convened the group as supporters and Medicaid critics continue to stare each other down over the cost of the agency, which provides health care for approximately 1 million Alabamians below the poverty line. (Lockette, 4/21)

State senators said Wednesday that they have heard complaints about Iowa's Medicaid program under private management and that state officials providing information on the new system should stop telling the public the transition has been smooth. (Rodriguez, 4/20)

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on Wednesday sharply criticized a plan to require Medicaid recipients to help pay for their care, calling it a cynical political play that would throw people off their insurance and increase costs for all Ohioans. (Ross, 4/20)

State officials are holding a public hearing on a proposal to require more than 1 million low-income Ohioans to pay a new monthly cost for Medicaid. House Republicans inserted plans for the so-called Healthy Ohio Program into the state budget last year. The idea requires federal approval. (4/21)

As Oklahoma is on the brink of a healthcare disaster, some metro hospitals fear this could create new challenges when it comes to recruiting doctors. Hospital officials with OU Medical System said the demand for more doctors, nurses and therapists is huge. ... But as the Oklahoma Health Care Authority proposes to cut Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers by 25 percent, hospital officials said attracting out-of-state doctors to Oklahoma won’t be easy. (Price, 4/20)