Signed by Governor Jack Dalrymple

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that expands Medicaid eligibility, beginning January 1, 2014 and ending July 31, 2017.

Highlights:

• Requires the Department of Human Services to expand medical assistance coverage to individuals under 65 years old with income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level (Sec. 1).

• Requires the Department of Human Services to implement the expansion by either bidding through private carriers or utilizing the health insurance exchange (Sec. 1).

• Requires the Department of Human Services to inform new enrollees in the medical assistance program that benefits may be reduced or eliminated if federal participation decreases or is eliminated (Sec. 1). 

• Appropriates funds derived from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to the Department of Human Services from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015 to implement the expansion of medical assistance (Sec. 2).

• Requires the legislative management to study the effects of the changing health care system and address alternatives to the Medicaid expansion to “make health care more accessible and affordable to the citizens of the state” (Sec. 3).

Full Bill Text