Fiscally Irresponsible Republican Governors Can't Afford to Expand Medicaid
Last edited Sat Jul 14, 2012, 11:48 PM - Edit history (1)
The federal government pledges to pick up all the costs at first and 90 percent of them after 2020.
Republican Governors generally assert only they (as opposed to a Democrat) can handle fiscal matters. Yet, only Republican Governors are rejecting the coming Medicaid expansion. Why? [Caution - Sarcasm Ahead] Because they're apparently so good at fiscal matters that they just don't have the money to expand Medicaid.
Meanwhile, Democratic Governors seem to have no problem finding a way to pay. Moreover, by covering more people and keeping them healthy and out of emergency rooms, they'll probably save tons of money in the long run.
Who's really got their fiscal affairs in order?
Is it Democrats, who can provide preventive care to their citizens?
Or is it Republicans, who offer only an emergency room, and then only after the gangrene is so advanced that legs need to be cut off?
Per the NY Times:
"More than half a dozen Republican governors including those of Texas and Florida, which have the nations largest populations of poor uninsured residents said they would not expand their programs because Medicaid already eats up an unsustainable share of their budgets. A slightly bigger number of Democratic governors said they would move swiftly to expand coverage in their states, with the federal government pledging to pick up all the costs at first and 90 percent of them after 2020."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/governors-face-hard-choices-over-medicaid-expansion.html?pagewanted=all