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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Virginia House Decides in Favor of Medicaid Expansion

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Monday, February 19, 2018   

RICHMOND, Va. — A major roadblock to Medicaid expansion has been removed in the Virginia House of Delegates, as the Republican-controlled chamber included the expansion in the state budget proposal on Sunday.

The budget represents a dramatic political turnaround by the House, and a show of bipartisanship between House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican from Colonial Heights, and newly inaugurated Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. Attorney Jill Hanken with the Virginia Poverty Law Center and the Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition said she welcomes the news.

"Well, we are very pleased with the provisions in the House budget that support expanded coverage to over 300,000 low-income Virginians,” Hanken said. “And we certainly hope that there will be more progress made as this process continues."

Republicans had blocked Medicaid expansion for years, saying its long-term costs were unsustainable. Now, they want to mandate work requirements and cost-sharing provisions for some Medicaid recipients.

The House proposal sets the stage for a political showdown as the GOP-controlled Senate has indicated it still opposes Medicaid expansion. But Hanken said she's just happy to see progress and possibilities.

"Well, the fact that the House budget includes this program, and also uses millions of dollars in savings from expansion in other parts of the budget, I think signals a wonderful opportunity for the state,” she said.

The House proposal includes accepting $3.2 billion in federal dollars to pay 90 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid next January. The House proposal leaves a giant $400 million gap between the two chambers' spending plans as they head in to negotiations.


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