Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl

President Donald Trump's administration has rejected Utah's planned request for enhanced federal funding for partial expansion of its Medicaid program, state officials said Saturday. A statement released Saturday by Gov. Gary Herbert, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Brad Wilson, all Republicans, said the White House told Utah officials late Friday that the state's waiver request awaiting formal submission wouldn't be approved. (7/27)

Utah received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, under the Health and Human Services Department, in March to move forward with a Medicaid expansion to provide access to health insurance for up to 90,000 low-income adults. Under that agreement, the federal government will pay for 70 percent of the expanded program, with the state funding the remaining 30 percent. People have been able to apply for coverage since April 1. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government may pay for more than 90 percent of the program, as it does in the more than 30 other states that have expanded Medicaid, and Utah hoped to receive such support. (Abutaleb, 7/26)

The HHS inspector general could soon call on Florida to refund the federal government $436 million in Medicaid funds that were improperly paid to the country’s largest public hospital, according to a draft report obtained by POLITICO. The independent auditor’s office forthcoming report could provide a politically awkward moment for top Florida Republicans closely allied with President Donald Trump. Florida officials warn the state and Jackson Memorial Hospital, which treats tens of thousands of poor patients each year, could face devastating consequences if the state is forced to pay back the money. (Pradhan, 7/26)

Miami-Dade’s public hospital network, Jackson Health System, may have wrongly received hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds that Florida will have to refund to the federal government, according to a forthcoming audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cited in a story first reported by POLITICO. A draft of the HHS inspector general audit found that Florida’s Medicaid program between 2010 and 2014 wrongly paid Jackson Health $436 million that was not allowed under the terms of the Low Income Pool or LIP program that reimburses hospitals for care delivered to low-income and uninsured persons, POLITICO reported. (Chang and Koh, 7/26)

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper often got steamrolled by Republicans when they held comfortable legislative majorities during his first two years on the job. They could usually ignore his objections about their conservative agenda and override his vetoes. That's changed since the 2018 elections, when enough Democrats got elected to end the GOP's veto-proof control. Cooper raised millions of dollars for Democratic legislative campaigns, and a court ordered districts to be redrawn in the closely-divided state, aiding Democrats. (7/27)