Bloomberg Politics

July 29, 2015

By Mark Niquette and Margaret Newkirk,

Despite opposition from their own party, Republican governors are pushing forward with Medicaid expansion plans. The governors of Utah and Wyoming both said they kill want to broaden health coverage for the poor as the Obama administration pledges to help plans get through conservative legislatures.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal may possibly seek a federal waiver to expand Medicaid despite having originally rejecting the idea in 2013. Louisiana’s governor has also started a legal process towards expanding Medicaid for the state’s poorer residents.

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While Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican presidential candidate, has been an adamant opponent, his state still could move, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.

Jindal leaves office at year-end, and Republicans running to replace him have all expressed support for expansion in some form, she said. The legislature has passed a provision requiring hospitals to pay the state’s share of expansion.“I don’t think we are going to see a super-large number of states moving forward,” Alker said. “But it is a steady drumbeat.”

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