Hoping more states will expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama will offer a financial incentive in his proposed fiscal year 2017 budget, according to the White House.
That action will keep the door open for 19 states that previously passed up on the opportunity for the federal government to help pay to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income Americans.
In its proposal to extend the deadline, the government would provide the same three years of full federal support and gradual phase down that states that originally expanded in 2014 received, no matter when the state takes that option.
Some Republican governors have opposed Medicaid expansion because they believe it is costly and unnecessary, but expanding the program in the remaining 19 states would provide health insurance coverage to more than four million low-income people, according to the White House.
Obama's announcement also cited a recent study that compared two states that expanded Medicaid, Arkansas and Kentucky, to Texas, which did not. The expansion states saw an increase in residents with chronic conditions getting regular medical care, and a decrease in residents skipping medications because of cost or having trouble paying medical bills.
Obama will discuss his proposal today at a town hall in Louisiana, which this week became the 31st state, plus the District of Columbia, to expand Medicaid eligibility under the ACA, when newly elected Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, signed an executive order.
To learn more:
- read the White House announcement
- read the Kaiser Health News report