The Alaska Legislature’s committee with gatekeeping authority over expediting the governor’s Medicaid plans meets Wednesday, but does not intend to take up the welfare program’s expansion.
That’s according to the office of Rep. Mike Hawker, who chairs the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee.
If the committee does not act on the governor’s plans, the expansion of Medicaid is expected to go forward automatically on Sept. 1. Gov. Bill Walker announced Thursday his intent to expand Medicaid without the legislature’s blessing.
Hawker has previously said he supports Medicaid expansion.
Separately, the committee is taking up contract proposals on Wednesday to hire a Medicaid expert to consult for the legislature through the 2016 legislative season.
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
