Committee advances broad Medicaid reform bill after hours of testimony and debate

Representative Jordan Redmond, of District 3, introduced House Bill 345, named the “Medicaid Affordability and Health Care Access Act,” describing it as a package of reforms intended to preserve access to care while controlling costs in the Medicaid program.

Redmond told the House Health and Welfare Committee the bill removes a proposed 36-month lifetime limit and an enrollment cap that had been debated in prior legislation, and instead adds measures including comprehensive Medicaid managed care, cost-sharing, “site-neutral” payments, practice-authority protections for certain providers, and work- or activity-based reporting for able-bodied adults in the expansion population. He said the bill contains provisions intended to protect rural and critical-access hospitals and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), to repurpose staff as the department transitions to an MCO model, and to preserve legislative oversight through a Medicaid review panel.

Committee members and many public witnesses pressed on several aspects: potential administrative costs and staffing needs for biannual redetermination and work…