Congress returns to work today, after the July 4th break and the number one topic is the U.S. Senate health care bill, a large focus of the GOP-driven version of the bill was aimed at reducing spending on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor paid for with state and federal dollars. If passed, the bill would roll back federal funds for Medicaid expansion and eventually put caps on how much each state will receive for the traditional Medicaid program based on a per-capita formula. Louisiana would be one of the hardest-hit states to be affected by cuts to Medicaid, largely because Louisiana is one of the poorest and unhealthiest states in the nation. Governor John Bel Edwards said in a recent conference call shared with Public Radio's WRKF in Baton Rouge, that he has been in contact with Louisiana's Republican U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, urging them to reject the bill.
