Some of the Red States that have been vocally opposed to portions of the Affordable Care Act are inching toward potentially expanding Medicaid access to their residents, reported The Texas Tribune.
In Texas, where Gov. Rick Perry and the dominant Republican party has been staunchly opposed to the ACA, there is discussion about putting the question of Medicaid expansion on a statewide ballot as a potential amendment to the state's constitution.
The impetus is the fact that while no GOP lawmaker is on record as supporting expanding Medicaid, resisting it would have grim fiscal repercussions "because the alternative is going to cost us much more economically and dig a much deeper hole in our budget," State Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat, told the Tribune.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat in a Red State, will lean on the state Legislature to expand the Medicaid program, according to the Huffington Post.
"The budget I plan to submit to the legislature for fiscal year 2014 will include federal funding to provide healthcare for an estimated additional 300,000 Missourians--men, women and children--who currently have no health insurance. It's the smart thing to do and it's the right thing to do," Nixon said Thursday in a statement.
However, Nixon is likely to face strong opposition from a Republican-controlled Legislature, Huffington Post noted.
Altogether, the governors of eight states said they would oppose Medicaid expansion.
For more:
- read the Texas Tribune article
- here's the Huffington Post article
- read Gov. Nixon's statement