Kasich is now the fifth Republican governor to accept Obamacare’s Medicaid funding. Infamous Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona, as well as governors of Nevada, New Mexico, and North Dakota have al accepted the provision.
In the press conference he gave where he informed Ohio that he was accepting Obamacare, he took a uncharacteristic populous stance.
"We are going to extend Medicaid for the working poor and for those who are jobless trying to find work," …. "It makes great sense for the state of Ohio because it will allow us to provide greater care with our own dollars."
"We are going to extend Medicaid for the working poor and for those who are jobless trying to find work," …. "It makes great sense for the state of Ohio because it will allow us to provide greater care with our own dollars."
Kasich credited the White House with encouraging him to go forward with the Medicaid expansion. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, vowed to consider giving Ohio the flexibility to enact changes to its Medicaid program during a telephone conversation on Jan. 30, Kasich said. "I want to thank Valerie Jarrett today for being willing to work with us," he said.
Specifically, Kasich said the White House indicated it would consider proposals from Ohio that would put fewer people into Medicaid and more into private health insurance. The health care reform law seeks to extend Medicaid to anyone earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $15,282 for a single person this year. The expansion targets low-income adults who do not have disabilities or children living at home and who aren’t eligible for Medicaid in most states today, no matter how little they earn.
There was no doubt by many that the ideological stance taken by Republicans was simply a stunt in an attempt to get the president defeated. After-all the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is much less than it should have been. As opposed to eliminating private health insurance companies altogether, Obamacare expanded their reach. Inasmuch as Obamacare is great for all those not covered, great for providing no cost preventative care and screening, great for eliminating pre-existing condition denials, great for eliminating rescissions, and great for ensuring chronic illness is no longer a pathway to bankruptcy, it could have been done much cheaper. Private insurance companies add 30% overhead simply to pay a bill. All other functions they serve, risk management, hospital pooling, doctor pooling, etc. are simply profit maximization activities on the backs of the sick and the middle class.
Texas, a big state, has rejected Obamacare’s Medicaid option. It won’t be long before Governor Rick Perry finds a face saving way to follow the orders of his Plutocratic masters and accept it. After all, it continues the wealth transfer from the middle class to the Plutocracy.
