Medicaid issues, not Medicare’s, get fixes in Biden budget

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicaid issues are turning up as winners in President Joe Biden’s social budget framework even as divisions force Democrats to hit pause on far-reaching improvements to Medicare. The blueprint Biden released Thursday fulfills a campaign promise to help poor people locked out of Medicaid expansion across the South due to partisan battles, and it would provide low-income seniors and disabled people with more options to stay out of nursing homes by getting support services in their own homes. But with Medicare, Democrats were unable to reach consensus on prescription drug price negotiations. Without savings from lower drug spending, that scotched plans to expand dental coverage for seniors.