Two More Governors Reject Medicaid Expansion
Two GOP governors say they will not expand Medicaid
Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY
February 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — Two Republican governors said Wednesday they will not back expanding their states’ Medicaid programs as allowed under the 2010 health care law, saying the extra costs would burden their states.
The decisions by Govs. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Mike Pence of Indiana leave 10 remaining Republicans who have yet to decide on expanding their participating in the federal-state health care program for the poor. All of the governors have come under heavy lobbying by health care providers who say the economic benefits are too good to ignore.
In Wisconsin, Walker outlined a hybrid approach that involves tightening income eligibility for Medicaid, lifting a cap on a program that covers childless adults and forcing more people to buy insurance through a government-run marketplace known as an exchange.