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Many Alaska hospitals and other healthcare providers face significant Medicaid payment cuts following Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto Monday of a bipartisan bill to restore Medicaid funding that the governor pushed to reduce. Dunleavy, an ultraconservative who narrowly won election in a four-way race in November, vetoed $50 million in state Medicaid spending and erased the $27 million in adult dental benefits from next year's budget. (Meyer, 8/20)

The question of whether to expand Medicaid and extend health insurance to thousands of Oklahomans promises to be a major topic over the next year. The Healthcare Working Group, a bipartisan legislative committee charged with deciding whether to endorse Medicaid expansion or other policy moves, kicked off its work last week and is expected to unveil recommendations before next year’s session. Meanwhile, a signature-collecting drive is underway to put a state question on a 2020 ballot to accept expansion. (Brown, 8/19)

Medicaid today approved a plan that will remove hurdles and expand the ways Ohio can use federal healthcare money to keep low-income children safe from lead in older homes. The state first pursued new funding for lead abatement in 2017 through its Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In its biennial budget, the state committed to spending about $300,000 from its general revenue fund to leverage $10 million in Medicaid funding for lead abatement work in high-risk homes across the state. (Dissell, 8/20)