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House Panel Approves Beshear's Medicaid Fix

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, KY – The governor wants to move $166 million from the second year of the Medicaid budget to the current year to cover a huge deficit. He says right now the second year is balanced, but if a shortfall occurs, savings from managed care will cover it. Rep. Jimmie Lee says if lawmakers fail to enact the governor's plan, the impact will be disastrous.

"We've got to pass this movement of these dollars in order to provide the quality of care that we need for those 800,000. And then we need to have the dedication and the fortitude to move on and look at these areas in '12 that will provide the managed care approach."

The plan easily won budget committee approval, as did legislation raising the state's drop out age from 16 to 18 by 2016. Both bills now move to the House floor.