Fallin Continues Stand Against Medicaid Expansion in OK
Fallin remains firm on rejecting Medicaid expansion
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Thursday, February 21, 2013
With Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Wednesday announcement that he is ready to accept “Obamacare” money to expand his state’s Medicaid program for at least three years, the majority of the states — representing 96 percent of the nation’s population — have either opted into the plan or are leaning that way.
Not Oklahoma.
A spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin said Scott’s decision that Florida couldn’t afford to stay out of the Medicaid expansion doesn’t change her stance that Oklahoma can’t afford to get into it.
“Governor Fallin has made her decision based on what is best for Oklahoma,” spokesman Alex Weintz said. “She does not plan on revisiting the issue.”
Scott’s announcement makes Florida the 25th state apparently headed toward accepting Medicaid expansion, a key element of the Affordable Care Act’s scheme for reducing the number of uninsured Americans.