All of a sudden, Medicaid is trendy again. The governor of Kansas vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have expanded Medicaid in his state. But the legislature is reserving the option of trying to override the veto and Virginia and North Carolina are moving toward expansion. Several other states are considering it.

Senior House Republicans said Thursday that they expected the federal government to continue paying billions of dollars in subsidies to health insurance companies to keep low-income people covered under the Affordable Care Act for the rest of this year – and perhaps for 2018 as well.

A majority of the schools across the region are spending less on educating students than what’s needed to ensure the state’s rigorous academic standards are met. That’s the word from the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, which released a report this week on the spending impact on rural school performance.

Children. Pregnant women. Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Older Pennsylvanians. All of them are vulnerable citizens with specific health care needs, and all are covered by Medicaid. However, should the proposed American Health Care Act become law, we can expect these Pennsylvanians to suffer greatly and face insurmountable difficulties getting the services they need — let alone pay for them.

The announcement late Thursday afternoon that a congressional vote had been postponed for the Republicans’ proposed replacement for Obamacare was the action the state’s hospital association and several patient advocacy groups were calling for earlier in the day.