IA Senate Panel Recommends Medicaid Expansion

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate subcommittee voted in favor of a bill to expand Medicaid.

Two Democrats in the three-member Human Resources Subcommittee approved the bill Thursday. The Republican member was absent.

The bill would extend Medicaid to an additional 150,000 Iowans. The federal government would pick up all costs for three years, then 10 percent of expenses would gradually shift to the state.

Governor Terry Branstad says he opposed Medicaid expansion, and even if it passes the Senate the bill likely has little chance in the Republican-controlled House.

Democratic Senator Pam Jochum, the bill sponsor, says the subcommittee met despite of an impending snow storm to ensure Medicaid expansion would pass before March 8, when bills must be reported out of Senate committees.

The bill now moves to the full Senate committee.

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