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A Senate panel set up to explore the state’s response to federal health care reforms continued it discussions Monday but came no closer to consensus on whether the state should expand Medicaid coverage to those who now earn too much to qualify for benefits.
Members of the Senate Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, created to help forge a response to the sweeping federal mandate, took three hours of testimony from a range of witness from hospital administrators to a recently unemployed middle school teacher who would likely qualify, if the state decides to go along with a voluntary program to expand Medicaid coverage to recipients making 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
Hospital providers on Monday said expanding coverage would reduce the amount of uncompensated care and per patient costs by keeping people healthier.
Critics say experiences in Maine and Arizona with similar Medicaid expansions showed them to be much more expensive than originally estimated, while doing little to reduce the number of uninsured.
Committee Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said the panel would meet again next week and begin deliberations on formulating its response within the next few weeks. The panel meets again on Monday, Feb. 18th.
