As expected, the state House isn’t going to sign off on the Senate’s version of Medicaid reform rather than its own version. And it’s going to be difficult reaching a compromise this year.

The House unanimously voted Wednesday not to concur with the Senate rewrite. That sends the issue to a conference committee to attempt to hash out differences.

But there are big differences, and only a few weeks left in the session, so far.

Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Cary Republican who focuses on Medicaid issues, said on the House floor he hopes it can be worked out.

“We look forward to, hopefully, concluding negotiations between the House and Senate on Medicaid reform this year,” Dollar said. “However, the two versions we have before us are the House version, which was overwhelmingly supported, and the Senate version, and we have a number of key differences that will have to be negotiated at length.”

The Senate bill would change the current fee-for-service system to a per-member monthly allotment for a mix of commercial insurers and in-state health-care providers. It would create a cabinet-level department of Medicaid.