Sens. Portman, Capito: Slow Medicaid Expansion Phase-Out

Two Republican senators have proposed phasing out federal funding for Medicaid expansion over a seven-year period, contrasting what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday.

According to The Hill, Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., want to see the Medicaid expansion provision that was part of the 2010 Obamacare law kept in place until 2027.

McConnell would like it to go away at the end of 2023 after a three-year phase out that begins in 2020.

However, the fact that Portman and Capito are open to seeing an end to Medicaid expansion is noteworthy because of their moderate position in the Republican party. Whether that's a larger trend among GOP centrists is not clear.

"My hope is that a longer glidepath with flexibility will give the states and the governors the ability to extend the coverage to the population," Capito said, The Hill reports. "I think that's one of the goals I would see."

Most Republican lawmakers favor taking the burden of funding Medicaid off the federal government and onto the states. The Senate is now working on the House GOP's healthcare bill, which it hopes to pass this summer.

The healthcare bill, dubbed the American Health Care Act, is designed to repeal and replace Obamacare.

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