Gov. Nathan Deal has for months argued that the state can’t afford to expand its already-strained Medicaid program to include at least 650,000 more Georgians. His administration, though, is quietly studying ways other states are expanding in case an alternative emerges.
Deal’s aides said budget analysts are just doing due diligence to ensure their decision makes financial sense, not to find the governor wiggle room. Advocates of the expansion, an element of President Obama’s health care overhaul, hope the review is a sign Deal may be rethinking his opposition.
The governor, in an interview Tuesday, didn’t rule out ever reconsidering Medicaid expansion, but he said the door remains shut “for now.”
“I don’t know what the future holds,” Deal said. “I do think that this is an issue that Congress is going to be required to revisit, because much of the Obamacare legislation is beginning to unravel.”
The issue came up earlier Tuesday when Deal’s health policy adviser, Katie Rogers, spoke at a Children’s Advocacy Network event. Asked about the Medicaid expansion, she said analysts run the numbers on a range of expansion models, including a novel approach embraced by Arkansas that has piqued the curiosity of conservative leaders. That plan would pay for new Medicaid enrollees to buy coverage from private insurers through a government-run marketplace expected to open in January.
“We are reworking the numbers, looking at different models like the Arkansas model. We’re never going to stop looking,” Rogers said. “Just saying ‘no’ is not an option.
via State eyeing Medicaid expansion options | www.myajc.com.
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