Obamacare Update: Which States are Going to Expand Medicaid?

Part of Obamacare involved expanding Medicaid, the health insurance program for low income folks in the U.S. The law required states to offer Medicaid to people living at 125% of the federal poverty limit or lower.  States that refused to do this would lose Federal funding for Medicaid (which splits costs about 50/50 federal vs state).  In addition, those people added to Medicaid would largely be paid for by the Feds—at about 90%.  Then the Supreme Court decided that it was coercive to require states to expand their programs.  So now it is optional.  And in a nice summary of the situation, this map (from the Advisory Board) shows which states plan to expand and which don’t.  In other words, universal health insurance, a standard in most developed countries, is still far from reality in the U.S.

 
 

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