The New Jersey Governor became the eighth Republican to take the Medicaid expansion deal.
What I found notable is that he essentially mimicked Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott in reserving the right to back out in future years if the feds don't keep their funding promises. While the feds are paying 100% of the cost of expansion in the first three years, that support ultimately drops to 90% in later years.
Said Christie, “If that [the fed's funding promise] ever changes because of adverse actions by the Obama administration or broken promises, I will end it as quickly as it started."
One of the primary reasons some Republican governors are balking at taking the expansion is because they think Medicaid is unsustainable and the feds will ultimately have to renege on the deal.
In fact they may be right––presuming we never do anything to reform the program.
But, as Scott and now Christie have shown, they can condition their expansion on those promises being kept.
The remaining Republican governors are just plain running out of excuses for why they think it is a good idea to leave millions of people without at least basic Medicaid health insurance.
Related posts:
By Refusing to Implement the Medicaid Expansion Republican Governors May Be Making the Republican Block Grant Proposals Impractical
Florida's Republican Governor Scott Does a Deal With Sebelius on Medicaid
Kamis, 25 Oktober 2018
The Cost To Launch The California Health Insurance Exchange Is $910 Million––Does That Sound Like A Lot To You?
So far California has received $910 million in federal grants to launch its new health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").
The California exchange, "Covered California," has so far awarded a $183 million contract to Accenture to build the website, enrollment, and eligibility system and another $174 million to operate the exchange for four years.
The state will also spend $250 million on a two-year marketing campaign. By comparison California Senator Barbara Boxer spent $28 million on her 2010 statewide reelection campaign while her challenger spent another $22 million.
The most recent installment of the $910 million in federal money was a $674 million grant. The exchange's executive director The Feds Will Administer the Insurance Exchanges for Twice What it Costs to Administer Medicare
The California exchange, "Covered California," has so far awarded a $183 million contract to Accenture to build the website, enrollment, and eligibility system and another $174 million to operate the exchange for four years.
The state will also spend $250 million on a two-year marketing campaign. By comparison California Senator Barbara Boxer spent $28 million on her 2010 statewide reelection campaign while her challenger spent another $22 million.
The most recent installment of the $910 million in federal money was a $674 million grant. The exchange's executive director The Feds Will Administer the Insurance Exchanges for Twice What it Costs to Administer Medicare