House to consider bill to scale back health law's Medicaid expansion

In other Medicaid news, AIDS experts worry that the current model of HIV/AIDS care could be put at risk by fiscal pressures and the changes that will occur as a result of the health law. 

The Hill: House To Vote On Rep. Black Bill Paring Down Health Law's Medicaid Expansion
The House will vote next week on legislation that will prevent as many as 1 million middle-income Americans from becoming eligible for Medicaid under the health care reform law, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced Friday. The Medicaid eligibility bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), is the last bill on the leader's weekly schedule. It cuts the deficit by about $13 billion over 10 years and is expected to pass with bipartisan support (Pecquet, 10/21).

CQ HealthBeat: AIDS Doctors Raise Concerns About Medicaid Expansion For HIV/AIDS Patients
AIDS doctors and researchers are worried that the current successful model of care for AIDS may be threatened by fiscal pressures as well as changes brought about by the health overhaul, according to a new paper released Friday that raises concerns about the future of treatment of the disease in the United States. The journal paper, released at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, says that HIV/AIDS needs sustained public health funding, given that just half of all patients have access to needed treatment that saves lives. The federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS grant program, which provides medical care and services to low-income and uninsured people, has been very effective as a model for care, it says (Norman, 10/21).