Michigan legislature goes for Medicaid expansion

Much to the Obama administration’s chagrin, the Supreme Court justices decided in their 2012 ObamaCare ruling that states were free to opt out of the proffered Medicaid expansion, wherein the federal government would pay for 100 percent of the costs of newly eligible people for the first few years and eventually shift to covering 90 percent of the costs by 2022.

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A little less than half of the states are declining to expand their Medicaid rolls (I’ll embed a map below for your viewing convenience), but we can now just about officially take Michigan off of the list of Republican-held states still deciding on whether or not to take the Obama administration up on their seemingly generous offer. The Virginia and Ohio legislatures are still duking it out, but Tuesday evening the Michigan House came up with a plan (not without the requisite drama, of course) to match the version passed by their Senate at the end of July, and Gov. Snyder is all about signing it when it makes it to his desk. Via HuffPo:

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, one of nine Republican governors to endorse the Medicaid expansion, has aggressively pursued the policy since February. All 12 Michigan Senate Democrats joined with eight of the chamber’s 26 Republicans to achieve a majority — and overcame a bold move to block the bill by one staunch conservative opponent — in the Senate Tuesday, setting up final action on the measure early next month.

Assuming Michigan moves forward with its “Healthy Michigan” plan, 24 states and the District of Columbia will add a projected 9 million low-income people to their Medicaid rolls in 2014. The remaining states — all but one led by Republican governors — won’t make these health benefits available under the Obamacare law, leaving an estimated 3.4 million people uncovered.

“It’s about helping 470,000 Michiganders have a better life,” Snyder said at a press conference following the Senate vote Tuesday evening. “We all know someone that falls in that category: hardworking people but lower-income people that couldn’t afford health insurance,” he said. “This isn’t about the Affordable Care Act. This is about one element that we control in Michigan that can make a difference in peoples’ lives.”

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Oof. Here’s the aforementioned map, with the exception that Michigan is now firmly in the “participating” category:


Where the States Stand

Via: The Advisory Board Company

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