A state House of Representatives committee on Tuesday approved a plan by Gov. Nathan Deal that would extend a controversial fee on hospitals that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to prop up the state's ailing Medicaid program. Deal has urged lawmakers to fast-track passage of Senate Bill 24 that would give the state's community health agency power to levy the 2-year-old fee, commonly called the "bed tax," to help fill a nearly $700 million budget hole in Medicaid.
