House committee advances bill to allow state-only Medicaid payments to providers excluded by federal HR1

The House Health & Human Services Committee voted 9–4 to advance Senate Bill 2 on a motion to send the measure to the Committee of the Whole, after a day of testimony that pitted sponsors and health-care groups against anti-abortion and fiscal-concerned witnesses.

The bill would authorize the state Medicaid authority to use state-only funds to reimburse nonprofit health-care providers that HR1 bars from receiving federal Medicaid matching payments — most prominently Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains — so that Medicaid-enrolled patients could continue seeing their existing providers while the federal legal fight over HR1 proceeds.

Supporters said the change is a narrow, temporary step to preserve continuity of care for people who rely on Planned Parenthood as a primary care home. Representative Wilford, a co-prime sponsor, told the committee, "On July 4 with the passage of HR 1, Planned Parenthood was immediately removed from the federal Medicaid program," and said the disruption forced nearly 991 patient…