Governors Expected to Discuss Medicaid Expansion

Patient financial services professionals might want to keep an eye on Williamsburg, Va., this weekend. The nation’s governors meet today and will reportedly discuss whether or not to expand state Medicaid programs  in 2014 as prescribed by the healthcare reform.

Several governors, all Republicans, have either stated or indicated they would not accept that portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that demands they expand Medicaid to all citizens who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty limits (approximately $15,300 per year), fearing that even with promised federal subsidies, the expansion will be too costly or unmanageable.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that the federal government could not withhold current Medicaid reimbursements as a bargaining chip to force the states to widen Medicaid programs. Should a state decide not to expand Medicaid, it would only lose the increased Medicaid reimbursements promised by the federal government, the Supreme Court ruled.

Governors in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana and Iowa have come out publicly against Medicaid expansion for their respective states. Many Republican governors have yet to state where they stand on the issue. Many pundits are expecting that rejection or support for Medicaid expansion to materialize at this weekend’s national governor’s conference.

The outcome of the debate, should it occur, will be of keen interest to those in patient financial services who are directly affected.