Health Reform Debate: Waiting on the Senate’s Next Move

The Senate Republican leadership announced on Tuesday that they will release a new draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. The previous version that failed to move forward contained deep cuts to the Medicaid expansion population and gave the state’s a choice of per capita caps or a block grant for the Medicaid program. By 2026, those cuts would have left a budget shortfall in our state of $4.3 billion per year. WSHA is waiting to analyze the new version of bill to determine how the changes will impact hospitals and health systems, along with our next steps for advocacy. (Chelene Whiteaker, chelenew@wsha.org)