expansion

Medicaid expansion is an expensive endeavor that many critics believe does not provide better or more affordable health care. Many of the expansion plans that states are now considering use federal dollars to expand their Medicaid programs to a larger portion of their state, creating new costs the federal government may not always be able to cover and leaving state taxpayers on the hook for the new liabilities.

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan signed into law on April 5 House Bill 1696 to modify and renew through 2018 the state’s Medicaid expansion program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which state lawmakers first adopted in 2014.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, New Hampshire State Rep. Allen Cook joins Michael Hamilton, Managing Editor of Health Care News to talk about why medicaid expansion is a bad idea. Cook explains why he doesn’t support Medicaid expansion, stating that the price of this expansion is likely to far exceed the projected costs.

President Barack Obama released his proposed budget for 2017 days before America’s sappiest holiday. Similar to many expressions of love given each year around February 14, the budget packed much potential to please—and even more to disappoint.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker’s (I) efforts to use executive power unilaterally to expand Medicaid in his state deserve a strong response from the State Legislature, not timid deference to the courts— an equal, not superior, branch of government. Alaska’s Medicaid program is in dire need of reform, not expansion. It has grown at an unsustainable rate, increasing by 150 percent over the past decade. State costs have increased by 300 percent since 2000.