July 18, 2015
By Michael Inzaghi,
The federal government will pay 100 percent of Medicaid costs through 2016 and then states have to contribute up to 10 percent of the funding for the program, which gives Alaskan legislature a chance to block state funds down the road. Alaskan Governor Walker had made Medicaid expansion a campaign priority.
Medicaid expansion has been stalled by political divisions in many South and central West states. Governor Walker is turning to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, a group of bipartisan lawmakers that has the authority to review requests for Alaska to accept federal money when the legislature isn’t meeting in order to bypass the Legislature.
Other Republican-led states that may expand Medicaid include Utah, North Carolina and surprising Louisiana, according to Adam Searing, senior research fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families.
…
Read more here.