The divide over how to handle the Medicaid expansion is reflected in the ranks of Republican governors. Also in Medicaid news are articles about how cuts could have a major impact on women, on Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) efforts on the GOP bill, California legislators weighing adding benefits for people in the state illegally and cuts in services in Texas and Louisiana.


The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Governors At Odds Over Medicaid Expansion’s Fate


As Senate Republicans turn in earnest to writing a health-care bill, hoping to craft a measure by Congress’s August recess, no question looms larger than how they will handle the Medicaid program for low-income Americans. At the center of that debate stands one powerful group: Republican governors. And they are split down the middle. (Hackman, 5/27)


ABC News:
The GOP’s Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Leave Millions Of Women Uninsured


The Republican health care bill currently making its way through Congress could have a major impact on how many people have access to health services through Medicaid –changes that would fall disproportionately on women. Today, more than 17 million women in the U.S. aged 18 to 64 have health insurance because of Medicaid, according to data from the National Women’s Law Center. Nearly a fourth of these women gained access to health insurance for the first time as a result of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that passed in 2010. (Raja, 5/26)


The Philadelphia Inquirer:
As Toomey Targets Medicaid Spending, Some Republicans Worry Plans Go Too Far


When the House passed its health-care overhaul this month, most Republicans from the Philadelphia area objected to its sharp cuts to Medicaid and the impact they expected on Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents. But Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey doesn’t think the measure goes far enough. The fiscal hawk is at the center of the Senate GOP’s negotiations on Medicaid, pushing for changes that would squeeze its budget even more by reining in the growth of one of the government’s most expensive and politically fraught programs. (Tamari, 5/26)


California Healthline:
California Could Become First State To Extend Medi-Cal To Undocumented Young Adults


California could become the first state to extend full Medicaid benefits to undocumented immigrants up to age 26 after two key legislative committees last week approved money for such an expansion. The Assembly and Senate budget committees both approved using some of the money from California’s recently passed tobacco tax to cover up to 80,000 unlawfully present young adults under the state’s version of Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal. (Ibarra, 5/26)


Austin American-Statesman:
Legislature Keeps Cuts To Program For Poor Kids With Disabilities


Over Democratic objections and against Texas House Speaker Joe Straus’ wishes, the Legislature this year won’t undo severe cuts adopted in 2015 to a program that serves low-income children with disabilities. The House on Friday voted 115-21 to go along with a Senate budget plan that declines to alter the dramatic reductions — totaling about $350 million in state and federal money last year and this year — in the rates paid by Medicaid to therapists who primarily serve children with conditions like Down syndrome, shaken baby syndrome and hydrocephaly. (Collins Walsh and Chang, 5/26)


New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Mental Health Services Proposed For Elimination In Louisiana Budget 


Louisiana would eliminate mental health services for people with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and other serious illnesses after July 1 under the state budget proposal put forward by the House of Representatives. Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Rebekah Gee said she would have to cut most mental health support currently provided to people on Medicaid, including children, in order to deal with a proposed $235 million state funding reduction to her agency for the annual budget cycle that starts in July. One of the only mental health treatment options for people on Medicaid she would be able to keep would be inpatient beds at hospitals that provide services to the poor and uninsured. (O’Donoghue, 5/27)


This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.