Update: Heller indicates support for seven-year rollback of Medicaid expansion

Show Caption Hide Caption Challenge For McConnell To Pass Health Care In Senate For Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, writing a Republican-only health care bill that can pass the Senate boils down to this question: How do you solve a problem like Dean, Lisa, Patrick, Ted, Rand and Susan?

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect new reporting as of Friday morning.

UPDATED 11:15 A.M. FRIDAY:

A spokesperson for Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said Friday that the senator did tell The Hill that he supported a seven-year phase out of the Medicaid expansion, but added his comments come in the middle of a negotiation that’s still ongoing.

Spokesperson Megan Taylor also said Heller wants to give Nevada as much time as possible for a potential rollback of the Medicaid expansion. That means he doesn’t support a rollback of the program over two years, which is currently in the bill passed by the House.

“Two years is not going to work for the state of Nevada,” Taylor said. “He’s been talking to the governor, we’ve been in close contact with the governor’s office to see what is something Nevada could live with.”

She added, “The senator wants to make sure Nevada has as much time as possible.”

Heller addressed his concerns about a potential Medicaid expansion rollback in two years with Health and Human Services Secretary Thomas Price at a committee hearing earlier this week.

ORIGINAL STORY FROM THURSDAY EVENING:

A Washington, D.C. publication reported Thursday that U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., now supports a seven-year phase out of the Medicaid expansion currently in law as part of Obamacare.

“I support seven, I support seven,” Heller told reporters, according to The Hill.

Repealing portions of Medicaid is contained in the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, Republican President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s brain child for a way to “repeal and replace” Democratic President Barack Obama’s health care law.



Under Obamacare, states could elect to expand their Medicaid enrollments and receive matching federal dollars to help expand coverage.



Heller came out immediately after the House voted to approve AHCA and said one of his biggest concerns was pulling coverage from those currently on the expanded Medicaid enrollments. His office sent a missive out Thursday saying he was still against AHCA in its House form.

The bill passed by the House calls for a two-year phase out. Heller hasn’t publicly discussed a phase out before in relation to the current “repeal and replace” debate. His office declined to say if he would support a shorter timeline, though in public testimony he said a two-year phase out would not work for Nevada.

However, Heller’s Thursday statement mark the first indication he is willing to end the Medicaid expansion that has covered more than 200,000 Nevadans since the law took effect. Around 600,000 Nevadans rely on Medicaid in some form currently.



Senate Republicans are currently working on their own version of “repeal and replace,” with one of the proposals how to scale back that Medicaid expansion.



When asked to either confirm or clarify what the senator told reporters at the Capitol, Heller spokesperson Megan Taylor asked if the Reno Gazette-Journal was “really doing a story on a false narrative the Democrats are pushing?”

She did not respond to questions about what information she considered was coming from Democrats, whether that be the report in The Hill or the senator’s own words.



She also declined to confirm if the senator said he was fine with a seven-year phase out of the program's expansion, which is being pushed by other Republican senators.



“Senator Heller has been working to ensure whatever health care bill is drafted in the Senate works for Medicaid expansion states,” Taylor said in an email statement. “This is just one of many policy options that is being discussed along with additional transition relief (i.e. growth rates) to ensure that the rug is not pulled out from underneath Nevadans and the more than 200,000 Nevadans who received insurance for the first time under Medicaid expansion.”

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office has been concerned about any rollback of the Medicaid expansion, which could put the onus on states to provide more state money or reduce coverage, leading to more uninsured.



Medicaid funding in the state is at around $3.75 billion right now, with the federal government covering 75 percent of the cost, or about $2.89 billion. The total the state puts in will increase to more than $3.8 billion in the next fiscal year.



A 10 percent cut to Medicaid could result in Nevada lawmakers having to come up with $289 million in funds just to hold level with the current fiscal year. That number would likely grow since lawmakers aren’t discussing phasing out the program until at least 2020.



Finding at least $289 million to plug a budget hole would put serious strain on state lawmakers in terms of budgeting and is more than sits in the rainy day fund – the state dollars used in case of fiscal emergencies.



Sandoval has said he is against the House health care plan and would be greatly concerned about any cuts to Medicaid. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.