“Facing mounting pleas from California and other states, the Trump administration moved Friday to allow states to use Medicaid more freely to respond to the coronavirus crisis and expand access to medical services.”
“President Trump’s emergency declaration may clear the way for states to more quickly enroll low-income Americans in Medicaid so they can get necessary testing or treatment if they are exposed to the virus, as several states have wanted to do since early in the crisis…”
“One reason federal health officials took so long to act appeared to be Trump’s reluctance to declare a national emergency, which would have conflicted with his repeated efforts to downplay the seriousness of the epidemic.”
“Another element may be ideological: The administration official who oversees Medicaid, Seema Verma, head of the government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been a champion of efforts by conservative states to trim the number of people enrolled in Medicaid…” Read the full article here.
Source: Under pressure, Trump administration opens door to mobilizing Medicaid to fight coronavirus – By Noam Levey, March 13, 2020. LA Times.
