What would you do if you needed health care, but your governor chose not to opt into the program?
According to the Washington Post, seven Republican-controlled states have decided to not expand their Medicaid rolls, despite the fact that the federal government has offered to cover 100% of the expansion costs from 2014 to 2016.
“This is crazy town,” Ezra Klein of The Washington Post said on Monday’s Now with Alex Wagner. “I don’t think it will last very long.”
The Medicaid expansion is a key part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Initial estimates showed that it would provide insurance to 17 million people who are currently without it. But this summer, the Supreme Court threw a wrench in the Obama administration’s plans when it ruled that the federal government could not force states to expand Medicaid.
It is worth noting that the states that have said no to the expansion—Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida—are home to a large number of the nation’s uninsured. In fact, Texas’ 24% uninsured rate is the highest in the country.
Michael Scotto