Democratic lawmakers have been discussing how to provide coverage to 2.2 million low-income residents in the 12 states unwilling to expand Medicaid.
Three options they are considering, according to Politico:
1. Allowing low-income adults to get free private coverage through the ACA exchange.
2. A Medicaid-like program created by HHS for people who would otherwise be covered by Medicaid expansion in the holdout states. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., plans to introduce legislation as early as next week that would back this approach and substantially increase financial incentives for Medicaid expansion in holdout states, Politico said.
3. A hybrid model that would allow marketplace customers to receive free coverage while federal officials address problems with the two previous options in creating a new program.