At Least 22 Governors — Including 4 Republicans — Hope To Expand Medicaid
In Arizona and Missouri, lawmakers and advocates are pushing for the expansion of Medicaid coverage as called for in the Affordable Care Act.
Reuters: Governors In 22 States Back Expanded Medicaid Plan
At least 22 governors, including four Republicans, support an expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, while others are expected to decide in the coming weeks, experts said on Wednesday. An analysis published by the New England Journal of Medicine said the headcount, which includes 13 Republican governors who staunchly oppose Medicaid expansion, portends an uneven start for "Obamacare" when its most sweeping reform provisions begin on January 1, 2014 (Morgan, 1/16).
The Associated Press: Brewer Wastes No Time Pushing Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Jan Brewer is wasting no time rallying support for her effort to expand Arizona's Medicaid plan, using a news conference at Maricopa Medical Center Wednesday to show she has backing from hospitals and the business community. Hospitals are being asked to agree to a new bed tax to help pay the state's cost of adding about 300,000 low-income people to the plan, which Brewer said would bring billions of dollars in spending to the state health care industry (Christie, 1/16).
St. Louis Beacon: Backers Of Medicaid Expansion Gear Up To Show Legislative Critics That 'We Mean Business'
As nurse practitioner Judith Gallagher related story after story of families or individuals who had no health insurance or had lost it – and couldn't qualify for Medicaid in Missouri – she emphasized one common fact about each case. Gallagher was among a parade of speakers Wednesday addressing more than 100 people at the Kirkwood Baptist Church as part of a statewide kickoff of a campaign to persuade the Republican-dominated General Assembly to support the expansion of Medicaid in Missouri (Mannies, 1/16).